Gold Holds at Lows, Market Reduces Interest Rate Cut Expectations
Gold prices held at low levels on Friday morning, after earlier falling on US employment data showing a strong labor market. This decline occurred despite gold still posting a small weekly gain, as investors began to reduce their expectations of an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Gold bullion traded near $3,370 per ounce, down 0.6% on Thursday. This followed a report showing that US jobless claims fell for a sixth consecutive week—the longest downtrend since 2022. The strong data boosted the dollar and US bond yields, which typically put pressure on gold as a non-yielding asset.
Traders now expect the first interest rate cut to occur in October, with the total number of cuts this year likely to be fewer than two. Meanwhile, political tensions have flared again after President Donald Trump and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell traded barbs over the renovation of the central bank's headquarters. However, Trump continues to push for an interest rate cut while stating that renovations alone are not grounds for firing Powell.
So far this year, gold prices have risen more than 25% due to global uncertainty, including geopolitical conflicts and US trade policy. However, since reaching a record above $3,500 an ounce in April, gold has moved within a narrow range as investors have begun to return to riskier assets. At 8:05 a.m. Singapore time, spot gold was little changed at $3,369.67 an ounce, with other metals like silver and palladium flat, and platinum slightly higher. (ayu)
Source: Newsmaker.id
