Gold drifts higher, traders eye U.S. inflation print
Gold prices edged up on Wednesday as investors hunted for bargains after steep declines in the previous session, while spotlight shifted to U.S. inflation print, which could shed more light on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.
Spot gold rose 0.4% at $2,608.18 per ounce by 0200 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Sept. 20 on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures was up 0.3% at $2,614.10.
There is currently some bargain hunting going on as prices fell below the $2,600 mark. Recent sessions saw gold negatively impacted due to a stronger dollar, driven by expectations of inflationary Trump policies affecting the rate cut cycle,” said Kelvin Wong, OANDA’s senior market analyst for Asia Pacific.
Traders see a 60.3% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at Fed’s December meeting, down from 77.3% a week ago, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Gold is used as a hedge against inflation but higher rates dampen its appeal as it yields no interest.
Market focus is on U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data due at 1330 GMT. Other data sets due this week include Producer Price Index (PPI), weekly jobless claims on Thursday and Friday’s retail sales data.
“If the CPI and PPI numbers show that inflation trend is still pretty much contained, then gold could make a move up towards $2,650,” added Wong.
Remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other U.S. central bank officials are also on investors’ radar.
The Fed’s policy rate continues to act as a brake on the resilient labor market and on inflation that is still above the 2% target, two U.S. central bankers said on Tuesday.
Spot silver rose 0.7% at $30.91 per ounce after hitting a one-month low in the previous session.
Platinum added 0.5% to $952.80 and palladium nudged 0.7% higher at $951.13.(Cay)
Source: CNBC
