Gold holds drop as US-Iran tensions weigh on inflation outlook
Spot gold is up 0.1% at US$4,018.84 an ounce
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[SINGAPORE] Gold held a decline as traders weighed conflicting signals from the US and Iran ahead of fresh talks to end the war that’s fuelled global inflationary pressures.
The metal was little changed near US$4,020 an ounce, after falling almost 2 per cent in the previous session. Washington said negotiations with Teheran are due to begin Tuesday in Doha, while Iran’s foreign ministry said on Telegram that it would send a delegation of experts but ruled out direct talks.
Separately, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that Teheran intended to continue with plans to oversee traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a move opposed by the US, Europe and Gulf Arab nations, highlighting differences over the future management of the vital waterway.
Gold is down nearly 24 per cent since the war began in late February and dipped briefly below US$4,000 an ounce last week. The war-driven spike in energy prices has raised expectations that central banks will keep interest rates higher for longer, a negative for non-yielding bullion.
The latest developments in the Middle East come as the US Supreme Court ruled that Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook can stay in her job while she fights President Donald Trump’s bid to oust her over unproven mortgage fraud allegations.
The ruling reinforces the autonomy of the US central bank, which is under pressure to lower rates at a time when some Fed officials have signalled they may need to raise borrowing costs to contain inflation. The latest US inflation data released last week, while high, was within analyst estimates.
Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at US$4,018.84 an ounce at 7.35 am in Singapore. Silver rose 0.4 per cent to US$58.51 an ounce. Platinum and palladium also traded higher. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed after falling for the previous three sessions. BLOOMBERG
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