Gold erased early gains and fell past $1,950 per ounce on Thursday, retreating from the two-month high of $1,980 from July 18th as hot economic data strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in September, increasing the opportunity cost to hold non-interest-bearing precious metals. The US GDP expanded by 2.4% in the second quarter of 2023, well above market expectations of a 1.8% increase. Additionally, durable goods orders soared past expectations and both initial and continuing jobless claims plunged to multi-month lows. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve raised its funds rate by 25bps to 5.5%, as widely expected by markets, and kept the door for future rate hikes open.
