Gold Moves Modestly Lower As Inflation Data Looms

(RTTNews) - The price of gold moved modestly lower during trading on Wednesday, extending the downward trend seen in recent sessions.

Gold for December delivery fell $9.30 or 0.5 percent to $1,950.60 an ounce, closing lower for the sixth time over the past seven sessions.

The continued weakness in gold prices came as traders looked ahead to the release of a key report on consumer price inflation on Thursday.

Economists expect the report to show consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent in July, matching the uptick seen in June. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, are also expected to rise by 0.2 percent for the second straight month.

The annual rate of consumer price growth is expected to accelerate to 3.3 percent in July from 3.0 percent in June, while the annual rate of core consumer price growth is expected to hold at 4.8 percent.

Traders will be looking for the report to reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged next month.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 86.5 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged in September.