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Gold was down 0.1 percent, or $1.33, to $1,329.58 per ounce today.
Gold was down 0.1 percent, or $1.33, to $1,329.58 per ounce today, according to Reuters. The metal hit a four-month high of $1,345.35 on Wednesday. In February overall, gold gained nearly 7 percent, its biggest month-over-month increase since July. U.S. gold futures for February delivery fell $2.00 to $1,329.80 an ounce.
According to Reuters, several factors a including the unrest in the Ukraine, and economic concerns from the United States and China can be attributed to gold’s market movements.
“In general whether it’s Ukraine, the U.S. economic data or worries about China, there seem to be a lot more reasons than there were six weeks ago for looking at gold,” Nomura analyst Tyler Broda told the news source.
The U.S. economic data that was disappointing to investors made gold more appealing. According to Federal R
eserve Chair Janet Yellen, the unusually cold weather this winter hurt U.S. economic indicators.
“The next Fed meeting is really the key because by then some of the economic data should have unambiguously not been weather affected and if it still shows a slowdown the Fed might have to change their policy again,” Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner told Reuters.
Silver rose 0.2 percent or $0.04 to $21.28 an ounce Friday, for many of the same reasons gold has enjoyed a successful month, according to Reuters.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange lost 0.1 percent or $7.02 to trade at $7,016 per tonne, representing a total 0.7 percent decline in February, according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, copper was down on the New York’s Comex fell 0.3 percent or $0.0085 to trade at $3.1925 a pound Friday as the Chinese yuan fell and concerns about demand from that country intensified, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Brent crude fell $0.11 to $108.85 a barrel on Friday, after a drop of 56 cents in the previous session, according to Reuters. Investors expect demand will slow as severe winter weather recedes, though there are still worries over supply that are boosting the commodity’s price.