According to BlockBeats, on December 12, gold prices continued their downward trend following the release of U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) and initial jobless claims data that exceeded expectations. Silver also experienced a significant drop, with spot prices falling by more than 2%.
Paul Ashworth, an analyst at Capital Economics, noted that the components of the Federal Reserve's preferred Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index showed widespread weakness. Coupled with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released the previous day, this suggests that the core PCE monthly rate is likely to increase by only 0.03%. In light of these developments, it appears more probable that the Federal Reserve will proceed with a 25 basis point interest rate cut next week.
Additionally, the number of initial jobless claims increased by 17,000 last week, reaching the highest level since mid-October of the previous year. Economists had anticipated a decrease of 4,000 claims, expecting the total to reach 220,000.