Investing.com - Gold prices eased slightly in early Asia on Friday as investors continued to assess the likely timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike expected this year.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery eased 0.06% to $1.088.10 a troy ounce.
Silver for September delivery fell 0.04% to $14.690 an ounce. Copper for September delivery rose 0.05% to $2.378 a pound.
Overnight, gold futures inched down on Thursday amid a stronger dollar, as investors digested mixed signals from the Federal Reserve on the likelihood of a September interest rate hike.
On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded its two-day July meeting without offering any indications on whether it will adjust its benchmark Federal Funds Rate later this fall. U.S. short-term interest rates have remained level between zero and 0.25% for nearly six years since the end of the Financial Crisis. Nearly a decade has passed since the Federal Reserve last instituted a rate hike.
In its July monetary policy statement, the FOMC said the labor market has shown signs of progressing, citing indicators that showed the underutilization of labor resources have diminished in recent months. Last month, the U.S. unemployment rate fell by 0.2% to 5.3%. In addition, the FOMC noted that it has observed signs that the U.S. economy has grown moderately during the second quarter of the year.
Gold, which is not attached to dividends or interest rates, struggles to compete with high-yield bearing assets in periods of rising rates.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in a quarterly release on Thursday morning reported that U.S. GDP for the second quarter increased by 2.3%. The reading fell below high end of consensus estimates of a 3.5% increase, but was above the low end of forecasts for a gain of 1.9%. The BEA also upwardly revised first quarter GDP to a 0.6% increase from a prior reading of negative 0.2%.
Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite Index closed on Thursday down 83.44 points or 2.2% to 3,705.73, one day after halting a three-session, 11% romp. On Monday, Chinese stocks fell by 8.5% experiencing their worst session since 2007.
China is the world's largest consumer of copper and second-largest consumer of gold, behind India.