BENGALURU: Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday as the dollar held firm and Treasury yields ticked higher, while investors looked forward to the US June inflation data due later this week for more clarity on the US interest rate path.
Spot gold was up 0.1% to $2,360.70 per ounce as of 10:13 a.m. ET (1413 GMT), after dropping more than 1% in the previous session. US gold futures firmed 0.2% to $2,367.80.
The dollar was up 0.1% against its rivals, making gold more expensive for other currency holders, while Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields inched higher.
There’s an expectation that the Federal Reserve is more likely to start cutting rates as early as September, which is contributing positively to current market condition, said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities. Recent US economic data pointed to a slackening labour market, cementing expectations that the US central bank is on course to start cutting interest rates soon. However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday in congressional testimony said inflation “remains above” the Fed 2% target, but has been improving in recent months and “more good data would strengthen” the case for central bank interest rate cuts.
Focus now shifts to the consumer price index (CPI) data on Thursday, with recent numbers showing a cooling from unexpectedly high levels at the start of the year.
If markets are shown evidence of still-stubborn US inflation, that may prompt the precious metal to unwind more of its recent gains, said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity Group.
Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.4% to $30.91 per ounce, platinum fell 0.5% to $991.90 and palladium slipped 0.5% to $1,003.75.
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