CL
Crude futures fell sharply on Friday, paring some of its gains from one session earlier, amid a strengthening dollar aided by slight increases in inflation last month. Crude futures plummeted 0.80 to a near session-low of 59.42 in U.S. morning trading after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index for the month of April. While the headline CPI index rose only 0.1% from March, the reading of the Core CPI index was less benign. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by 0.3% for the month, its highest gain since January 2013, and 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. The Federal Reserve would like to see inflation move toward its targeted goal of 2% on an annual basis before it institutes its first interest rate hike in nearly a decade.
GOLD
Gold futures inched up ahead of comments from Janet Yellen on the state of the U.S. economy, as a moderate reading of the Consumer Price Index unleashed further debate on the timing of an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve. Gold continued on a volatile path on Friday, after ticking down 0.38% one session earlier. Last Friday, gold futures closed up by 0.01% capping a four-day winning streak. Since then, the precious metal has not closed in the same direction on two consecutive days, underscoring investors' ambiguity toward the long-term prospects of the global economy.
