Gold Futures Close Lower For Fifth Consecutive Session

Gold futures saw further downside during trading on Friday, closing lower for the fifth consecutive session.

A firm dollar weighed on the precious metal. The dollar index climbed to 105.64 around mid-morning, but gave up some gains as the session progressed. It was hovering around 105.30 a little while ago, gaining about 0.6%.

Gold futures for August ended lower by $5.80 at $1,801.50 an ounce, recovering from a low of $1,783.40 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended down by $0.685 or about 3.4% at $19.667 an ounce, the lowest settlement since July 2020.

Copper futures for September settled at $3.6095, down $0.1060 from the previous close.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity slowed by more than expected in the month of June.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI slid to 53.0 in June from 56.1 in May, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to dip to 54.9.

With the bigger than expected decrease, the manufacturing PMI slumped to its lowest level since hitting 52.4 in June of 2020.

Data from the Commerce Department showed U.S. construction spending unexpectedly edged lower in the month of May.

The report showed construction spending edged down by 0.1% to an annual rate of $1.780 trillion in May after climbing by 0.8% to an upwardly revised rate of $1.783 trillion in April.

U.S. Reports 135K New Covid Cases, 503 Deaths

With 135,966 new cases reported on Thursday, the total number of people that have been infected with the coronavirus in the United States has risen to 87,623,959, as per Johns Hopkins University’s latest data.

503 Covid deaths reported on the same day took the total U.S. Covid casualties to 1,017,2694.

Ohio reported the most number of cases – 17,225 – and deaths – 74.

Deaths have increased by 18 percent in the last two weeks, New York Times’ latest tally shows.

More than 33,000 people are currently in American hospitals with the coronavirus, an increase of 10 percent over the last two weeks. More than 3,600 of these patients are admitted in intensive care units, marking a 9 percent rise in a fortnight.

84,916,391 people have so far recovered from the disease, the Worldometer tally shows.

As per the latest data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 222,271,398 Americans, or 66.9 percent of the eligible population, have been administered both doses of Covid vaccine so far. This includes 91.5 percent of people above 65.

47.8 percent of the eligible population, or 106,275,891 people, have already received a booster dose that is recommended to provide additional protection from the killer virus.

2,184 additional deaths were reported globally on Thursday, taking the total number of people who lost their lives due to the pandemic so far to 6,336,290.

Panera At Home Southwest Corn Chowder Recalled

Blount Fine Foods is recalling a limited amount of Panera at Home Southwest Corn Chowder citing undeclared wheat allergen, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The recall involves a single lot of 16 oz. product with UPC Code 077958690812, lot number 042122-2K and “Use By” date of 6/30/22 that comes around 2,569 cases in total. The recall is limited to 1 SKU of 16 oz.

The recalled product was distributed across 12 states including CA, IA, IL, MA, ME, MI, NH, NY, OH, TX, VA, WA.

Panera at Home Southwest Corn Chowder cups were only sold in refrigerated cases in the deli department of select retail grocery stores, and not sold at any Panera bakery-cafe.

No other Panera Bread, Panera at Home or Blount products are affected by the recall.

According to the agency, people who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat may get serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume the affected product.

However, the company has not received any consumer complaints or illnesses in connection with the recall, as the product was discovered at a grocery store during the restocking process.

Consumers are urged to return the recalled product to the place of purchase for product reimbursement.

From a Chef’s Burnout, a Singular Los Angeles Restaurant Emerges

At Angry Egret Dinette, Wes Avila is making ambitious food with freewheeling charm and unfussy service.

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Oil Futures Settle Sharply Higher On Tight Supply

Despite worries about outlook for energy demand due to slowing growth, crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday amid concerns about supply outages in Libya and likely shutdowns in Norway.

A survey by Reuters that showed OPEC pumped 28.52 million barrels per day in June, down 100,000 bpd from May’s revised total, contributed as well to the rise in oil prices.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.67 or about 2.5% at $108.43 a barrel. WTI crude oil futures gained nearly 1% in the week.

Brent crude futures were up $2.43 or about 2.2% at $111.46 a barrel a little while ago.

It is feared that a strike by oil and gas workers in Norway on July 5 could result in a drop in the country’s petroleum output by around 8%, or 320,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Traders also reacted to the declaration of force majeure by Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) at the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports, and the El Fell oilfield.

A report from Baker Hughes said the oil rig count in the U.S. rose by one to 595 this week, the highest level since March 2020.