Gold futures climbed sharply on Thursday to settle at their second highest price on Comex, supported by weakness in the U.S. dollar following data showing a decline of 0.5% in U.S. wholesale prices in March. “Gold’s response to the PPI data shows how this current leg higher is being driven by leveraged bets in gold derivatives, fuelled in turn by hopes for Fed rate cuts, rather than by demand for actual bullion,” said Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault. For now, however, “the physical market has clearly swallowed the rise above $2,000.” Gold for June delivery GCM23 rose $30.40, or 1.5%, to settle at $2,055.30…