Ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data on Thursday, which could drive the Federal Reserve’s policy decisions, gold prices held steady after hitting an eight-month peak on Wednesday.
Spot gold was steady at $1,883.95 per ounce at the time of writing. The SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust GLDM has gained 8.72% in the last six months while the iShares Gold Trust IAU gained 8.67%.
Traders expect a 77% chance the central bank will raise the benchmark rate by 25 bps to 4.50%-4.75% in February and see rates peaking at 4.92% by June, according to Reuters.
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Expert Take: Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals said prices were trending lower on some “profit-taking from the shorter-term futures traders ahead of the CPI report tomorrow,” according to the Reuters report. He added that the market could continue to trade sideways ahead of the data.
Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at OANDA said this could be a big report “if we get another good reading that shows inflation falling faster than anticipated,” the report said.
While concerns linger over the scale and impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in top gold consumer China, “over the longer term, China is expected to bounce back strongly, which could stimulate additional demand,” Erlam added.
Fed Comments: Increasing number of Federal Reserve officials are sounding less hawkish ahead of the next FOMC meeting scheduled in February.
Read Next: Boston Fed’s Susan Collins Says Leaning Toward 25 Bps Rate Hike At Next Policy Meeting: NYT
Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.