NEW YORK: Gold held steady on Monday as investors awaited US economic data this week for clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory after prices fell more than 2 percent in the last session on reduced rate cut expectations.
Spot gold was steady at USD4,077.57 per ounce as of 1219 GMT. US gold futures for December delivery fell 0.3percent to USD4,080.10 per ounce.
Carlo Alberto De Casa, external analyst at Swissquote, said spot prices are stable as investor buying of gold as a hedge against market uncertainty after prices fell last week has offset some of the pressure from a firm US dollar and reduced Fed rate cut expectations. The dollar index extended gains for a second session, making dollar-priced bullion expensive for holders of other currencies.
Markets will zero in on a string of US data this week for signs of economic strength, with the delayed September nonfarm payrolls report due on Thursday. Meanwhile, odds of a US rate cut in December have slipped below 50 percent after policymakers struck a cautious tone, weighing on gold.
Traders now see a 45 percent chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut in December, down from more than 62percent last week, the CME FedWatch tool showed.
Safe-haven gold tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment as it is a non-yielding asset. Gold has surged 56percent this year, hitting a record USD4,381.21 on October 20, driven by economic and geopolitical jitters, robust ETF inflows and expectations of further rate cuts. “Gold bull markets typically end when the underlying conditions that fuel them change.
Since no such shift seems imminent, I would not be surprised to see prices continue to climb and reach USD5,000 in 2026,” ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista said in a note.
Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.9percent to USD51.02 per ounce, platinum gained 0.4 percent to USD1,547.80, and palladium rose 0.1percent to USD1,385.75.
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