Gold trading started brilliantly earlier in the week after the precious metal soared to a three-month high during the Asian session, amid declining US dollar and US bond yields.
At the time of writing, spot gold is trading at around $ 1,850 an ounce, having touched its highest level since Feb. 10 at the start of the Asian session.
US retail sales showed no growth in April, down from 10.7% previously recorded. While core sales (excluding vehicle sales) fell by 0.8% from a 9.0% increase in the previous month.
These disappointing data readings have helped the golden yellow metal to climb back up after a low slump as US inflation data published on Wednesday exceeded market expectations.
The inflation rate rose 0.8% in April, much better than expectations for a 0.2% rise and the previous reading at 0.6%. This has pushed US 10 -year bond yields higher to 1.70% before declining back to 1.62% after retail sales data was published.
According to analysts, the latest figures recorded in retail sales continue to show how fragile the current economic recovery is.
Meanwhile, despite rising inflationary pressures, weak retail sales data will give the Federal Reserve (Fed) more flexibility to maintain their very loose monetary policy.
