May 27 (Reuters) – Gold edged up on Monday but was
hovering near a two-week low hit in the previous session as
investors pared expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut after
the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting indicated that a delay in
monetary policy easing is likely.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,338.85 per ounce, as of
0211 GMT. Prices hit its lowest since May 9 at $2,325.19 on
Friday.
* U.S. gold futures were up 0.3% at $2,340.20.
* Bullion hit a record high of $2,449.89 earlier last week,
but has shed more than $100 since then.
* Fed officials indicated that it would take longer than
previously anticipated to gain greater confidence in inflation
moving to 2%, according to the minutes of the U.S. central
bank’s April 30-May 1 meeting.
* Traders’ bets signalled growing doubts that the Fed will
cut rates more than once in 2024, currently pricing in about a
62% chance of a rate cut by November, according to the CME
FedWatch Tool.
* Bullion is known as an inflation hedge, but higher rates
increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.
* At least five people were killed and several others were
missing after an informal gold mine collapsed in northern Kenya,
officials and local media said.
* BHP’s resolve to add more copper to its portfolio
will be tested by Anglo American investors’ demands for
a simpler offer for the whole company or a cash sweetener to
clinch a deal that could become the biggest in mining history.
* Profits at China’s industrial firms rose 4.3% in the first
four months from the same period last year, official data
showed.
* Spot silver rose 0.8% to $30.59 per ounce, platinum
was up 1.2% at $1,037.90 and palladium gained 1.6%
at $979.25.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0800 Germany Ifo Business Climate New May
0800 Germany Ifo Curr Conditions New May
0800 Germany Ifo Expectations New May
(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing
by Eileen Soreng)