Price movements
There was no significant change in the price of gold in spot transactions, which recorded $2,033.02 per ounce by 10:30 GMT.
Gold futures fell by 0.1 percent to $2,049 per ounce.
Giovanni Stanovo, an analyst at UBS, said: “I expect prices to remain within a limited range in the short term. Gold is likely to receive support from continued strong demand from central banks, with China alone buying another ten tons in January.” .
He added: “The market will closely follow the statements of members of the Federal Open Market Committee today to obtain any indication of different statements after the release of the latest US economic data.”
Investors are awaiting comments from a group of Federal Reserve officials who are scheduled to speak this week.
Focus is likely to shift later to next week's inflation report for further indications on the timing of interest rate cuts.
Two Fed officials said on Tuesday that if the US economy performs as expected, this could open the door to lowering interest rates. But the battle against inflation is “far from over.”
Strong US economic data and tougher statements from Council Chairman Jerome Powell dashed hopes for lowering interest rates in March, and prompted traders to reduce their bets on lowering US interest rates in May.
As for other precious metals, silver fell 0.6 percent to $22.26 per ounce, palladium fell 1.6 percent to $934.99, and platinum fell 1.1 percent to $894.10.
#Gold #confined #limited #range #traders #await #indications #rate #cut
