By Rahul Paswan
(Reuters) – Gold prices gained on Monday, hovering near a more than one-month high hit last week, aided by hopes for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve as traders await for more comments from Fed officials to gauge the timing of those cuts.
Spot gold rose 0.4% at $2,421 per ounce, as of 1415 GMT. U.S. gold futures were up 0.2% at $2,426. Spot gold prices hit a record high of $2,449.89 per ounce on May 20.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak later in the day. Data sets due this week include U.S. retail sales, industrial output for June and weekly jobless claims.
“The path for both gold and silver prices is going to continue to be sideways to higher and I would not be surprised to see a new record high here in the coming weeks or even sooner,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior market analyst at Kitco Metals.
Weaker-than-expected GDP data from major gold consumer China might be limiting buying interest in the gold market today, Wyckoff added.
China’s economy grew 4.7% in April-June, official data showed, missing analysts’ forecast of 5.1% growth in a Reuters poll.
The dollar held steady, while long-dated U.S. bond yields rose, as investors weighed whether the assassination attempt on Trump increased his chances of victory. [MKTS/GLOB]
“Risks are just kind of balanced on each side and I think that (gold is) going to probably trend sideways for that reason,” said Everett Millman, chief market analyst with Gainesville Coins.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets now see a 94% chance of a U.S. rate cut in September. Non-yielding bullion’s appeal tends to shine in a low-interest-rate environment.
Spot silver rose 0.2% to $30.82, platinum shed 0.1% at $997 and palladium dropped 1.2% to $957.92.
Meanwhile, India’s four-week platinum imports from mid June eclipsed 2023’s total as bullion dealers exploited a loophole by registering alloys containing around 90% gold as platinum to avoid higher duties, government and industry officials told Reuters.
(Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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