Gold gains on weaker yields; US inflation report in focus

By Brijesh Patel
(Reuters) – Gold edged higher on Monday, supported by a weakness in bond yields as investors await U.S. inflation data due later this week for more clarity on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path after a dovish pivot last week.

Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,023.29 per ounce, as of 0312 GMT. U.S. gold futures edged 0.1% higher to $2,037.10.

“The yields are on a slippery slope after the FOMC meeting last week and that’s allowing some further upside in the gold price,” Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said.

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Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were hovering near their lowest level since July. Lower bond yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing gold. [US/]

The Fed held interest rates steady last week and signalled that the historic tightening of monetary policy engineered over the last two years is at an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024.

However, New York Fed President John Williams pushed back against surging market expectations of rate cuts, and said that “we aren’t really talking about rate cuts right now” at the Fed and it’s “premature” to speculate about them.

Markets are now pricing in about a 70% chance of a Fed rate cut in March, according to CME FedWatch tool.

Traders are awaiting a slew of U.S. economic data this week, including the November core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index report on Friday.

Analysts forecast core PCE to rise 0.2% last month, with the annual inflation rate slowing to its lowest since mid-2021 at 3.4%.

“Softer macro data from the U.S. this week would support the case that the Fed could be more aggressive next year with rate cuts. So, that would bring the dollar and bond yields lower and would suit the gold price,” Waterer said.

Spot silver gained 0.3% to $23.89 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.2% to $941.52 and palladium slipped 1.6% to $1,154.96.

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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