Gold steady before US payrolls data, heads for small weekly gain
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Gold prices remained steady on Friday, poised for a small weekly gain as markets awaited US nonfarm payrolls data to gauge the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision. Spot gold held at $4,475.75 per ounce. Traders are pricing in a roughly 50% chance of a September rate hike. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is expected to raise rates on Sep 10. Other precious metals like silver, platinum, and palladium saw slight declines.
[BENGALURU] Gold held steady on Friday (Sep 4) and was poised for a small weekly gain, as attention turned to highly awaited US payrolls data for clues on the US Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision.
Spot gold held its ground at US$4,475.75 per ounce, as at 0040 GMT.
Prices jumped 2 per cent on Thursday as traders scaled back expectations for a September rate hike after Fed governor Christopher Waller said he would support leaving rates unchanged if data continued to show inflation pressures moderating.
US gold futures for December delivery fell 0.4 per cent to US$4,522.60. Traders are pricing in an about 50 per cent chance of a Fed rate hike later in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Though gold is often viewed as an inflation hedge, elevated interest rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding asset.
The US nonfarm payrolls report is due at 1230 GMT. Data showed the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week amid low layoffs, pointing to stable labour market conditions.
The European Central Bank will likely raise rates on Sep 10 for the second and final time in what would be its shortest hiking campaign in 15 years, according to a Reuters poll.
Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.1 per cent to US$66.88 per ounce, platinum lost 0.3 per cent at US$1,820.18 and palladium declined 0.4 per cent to US$1,415.37. REUTERS