Silver, Copper Prices Plunge On Weak China Inflation Data

(May 11, 2023 - Unknown)

Gold futures ended lower Thursday, but the main action was in silver, which suffered its largest one-day percentage loss in more than three months, and copper, which tumbled to its lowest settlement since November.

Gold fell for a second straight session, pressured by strength in the U.S. dollar, with the front-month Comex contract for May delivery closing -0.8% to $2,014.70/oz., but the price still settled above $2K for the eighth session in a row.

But silver and copper fell sharply on concerns over a weak economic recovery in China as well as the dollar rebound, as front-month Comex silver for May delivery settled -4.7% to $24.25/oz, the largest daily decline since February 3, and front-month Comex copper closed -3.4% to $3.6975/lb, its lowest settlement value since November 29.

China's consumer inflation fell to its lowest level in more than two years, intensifying concerns about demand from the world's second largest economy, and new yuan loans issued by Chinese banks in April fell to ~$104B, less than a fifth of March's tally and half of what was expected.

A week ago, the front-month Comex gold contract closed at $2,048/oz, its second highest settlement on record.