Gold flat as focus turns to Fed minutes for monetary policy path clues
Spot gold is little changed at US$4,159.62 per ounce as at 0038 GMT
[BENGALURU] Gold prices were flat on Wednesday (Oct 7) as focus shifted to minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s meeting for fresh clues on the monetary policy path.
Spot gold was little changed at US$4,159.62 per ounce by 0038 GMT. US gold futures for December delivery steadied at US$4,187.30.
Minutes of the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting are due later in the day.
San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly on Tuesday said she supported September’s interest rate hike in the face of rising inflation risks, but feels that whether more are needed depends largely on whether the shocks that have been pushing up on inflation look set to fade or, conversely, continue to compound.
Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid said the Fed still needs to raise its policy rate further to lower inflation even if higher long-term yields are weighing on activity in some parts of the economy.
Recent soft economic data has reduced expectations of a rate hike in October, though traders still see an 85 per cent chance of an increase in December.
In a high interest rate environment, investors tend to favour yield-generating assets over gold.
The price of gold is expected to hit US$5,013 a troy ounce over the next 12 months, delegates to the London Bullion Market Association’s annual gathering in Sorrento, Italy, predicted on Tuesday.
US Vice-President JD Vance said in an exclusive interview with Reuters that Iran must make a “meaningful” reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands and end the country’s seven-month war, even as Washington was unsure how Teheran makes decisions in negotiations.
Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.6 per cent to US$61.32, platinum rose 0.4 per cent to US$1,707.65 and palladium lost 0.1 per cent to US$1,170.75. REUTERS
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