Gold gains on soft US economic data; traders weigh Fed rate-cut chances
Gold prices rose from a one-week low on Tuesday, supported by soft U.S. employment numbers, while investors assessed the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December ahead of more delayed U.S. data releases this week.
Spot gold was up 0.4% at $4,072.37 per ounce at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) after hitting its lowest level since November 10 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled 0.2% lower at $4,066.50 per ounce.
Data on Tuesday showed that the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits stood at a two-month high in mid-October, with continued claims for jobless benefits rising to 1.9 million in the week ended October 18.
"(The data) is slightly boosting market hopes for a December rate cut. This is helping gold and silver, which are trying to break a three-day losing streak," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.
Markets now see nearly a 50% chance for a rate cut at the Fed's December 9-10 meeting, up from 46% earlier on Tuesday, but lower than the 67% seen last week, CME Group's FedWatch tool showed.
Gold, a non-yielding asset, tends to do well when interest rates are lower. Prices fell more than 3% on Friday and 1% on Monday as investors scaled back bets on another U.S. rate cut this year.
Markets now await the minutes from the Fed's October 28-29 meeting, due to be released on Wednesday, and the U.S. Labor Department's monthly employment report for September, which will be released on Thursday after being delayed due to the recent U.S. government shutdown.
Elevated official demand for gold is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, "supporting a strategically bullish bias and upside to our average price forecast of $4,000/oz for next year," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note.
Among other metals, spot silver was up 1.2% at $50.78 per ounce, platinum rose 0.5% to $1,541.57, and palladium gained 1.1% to $1,408.52.
Source : Reuters.com
