Jan 22 (Reuters) – Gold prices steadied on Monday as
traders braced for fresh data on U.S. economic growth and the
Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge due later this week,
ahead of the central bank’s interest rate verdict next week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold edged 0.1% higher to $2,030.87 per ounce
by 0116 GMT.
* U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,033.00.
* The U.S. dollar index fell 0.1%, making
greenback-denominated gold less expensive for foreign currency
holders.
* Yields on benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes
slipped from an over a month high to 4.1149%.
* Bullion recorded its biggest weekly decline in six last
week, after U.S. central bankers pushed back against
expectations of early interest rate cuts.
* Last week, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said that
the Fed needs more inflation data in hand before any rate cut
judgment could be made. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic
said the baseline for cuts to start was in the third quarter.
* U.S. consumer sentiment improved in January to the highest
level since the summer of 2021, a survey showed last week, on
the heels of solid labor market and retail sales data indicating
the economy remained firm.
* Fed officials are in blackout this week ahead of the next
meeting on Jan. 30-31.
* The odds of a Fed rate cut in March have dropped to 55%
from about 71% two weeks ago, according to LSEG’s interest rate
probability app IRPR.
* Investors will be watching out for U.S. Q4 advance GDP
estimates due on Thursday and personal consumption expenditures
(PCE) data on Friday.
* Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of
holding bullion.
* Spot silver rose 0.1% to $22.63 per ounce, platinum
climbed 0.4% to $902.21, and palladium gained 0.4%
to $950.47.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0830 Hong Kong CPI NSA Dec
1500 US Leading Index Chg MM Dec
2100 Japan PPI Growth Dec
2130 NZ Business PSI Dec
(Reporting by Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich)