By Seher Dareen
(Reuters) – Gold prices held firm near an eight-month peak on Tuesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and hopes of slower U.S. rate hikes after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell failed to provide more clarity on tightening path.
Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,875.01 per ounce by 1:42 p.m. ET (1842 GMT), after hitting its highest since May 9 on Monday. U.S. gold futures settled 0.1% lower at $1,876.5.
“Gold’s had a nice run and dollar has been weakening… the Fed will eventually back off this hawkish stance. But we are not going to see a major rally before the inflation report,” Edward Moya, senior analyst with OANDA, said.
“One thing that we need to see is if U.S. yields can continue to decline. That’s going to be very positive for the precious metal and I think overall, there’s confidence that there is the peak in yields in place.”
While the dollar was higher, it was near its lowest in seven months, making gold more attractive for other currency holders.[USD/][US/]
While Powell did not comment on the Fed’s monetary policy at the central bank conference in Sweden, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said the U.S. central bank will have to raise interest rates further to combat high inflation and that will likely lead to softer job market conditions.
“Lack of comment on monetary policy matters has helped lift markets in early trade thus shifting the narrative to the CPI numbers which are due to drop,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, wrote in a note
The U.S. Labor Department’s consumer price report is due on Thursday.
Elevated interest rates dull gold’s appeal as an inflation hedge while raising the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.
Spot silver fell 0.3% to $23.56 per ounce, platinum was down 0.2% to $1,076.91 while palladium was steady at $1,775.49.
(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
