Gold prices edged up on Thursday, buoyed by a weaker US dollar and Treasury yields after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and as investors stepped up bets that the central bank may be done with rate hikes.
Spot gold was up 0.1% to $1,983.77 per ounce by 0310 GMT. US gold futures gained 0.2% to $1,991.80.
“I think there may be a little bit of support around the idea that the Fed seems to be signalling that rate hikes are ending,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.
The Fed on Wednesday held interest rates steady as widely expected, as policymakers struggled to determine whether financial conditions may be sufficiently tight to control inflation.
The dollar index was down 0.5%, while benchmark US 10-year note yields fell to a more than two-week low.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that market borrowing costs would need to be sustainably higher for that to bear on future monetary policy choices.
“For gold, there is also a very significant geopolitical risk premium due to the events in the Middle East… I think gold is going to be increasingly well supported, at least by the prospect that bond yields are probably at this point reaching some kind of a peak,” Spivak added.
Gold, used as a safe investment during times of political and financial uncertainty, rose above the key $2,000-per-ounce level last week as investors opted for bullion amid growing unrest in the Middle East.
Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.24% to 861.51 tonnes on Wednesday.
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Markets now await the US non-farm payrolls report on Friday, for more cues on Fed’s interest rate path.
Spot silver was steady at $22.98 per ounce, platinum rose 0.6% to $926.08 and palladium rose 1% to $1,114.02.
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