GOLD prices fell on Thursday (Jun 13) after traders gauged Federal Reserve officials’ updated interest rate projections, which signalled only one US rate cut this year.
Spot gold was down 0.5 per cent at US$2,311.50 per ounce, as at 0134 GMT. US gold futures fell 1.2 per cent to US$2,327.20.
The US dollar strengthened 0.1 per cent, making the greenback-priced bullion less attractive for other currency holders, while the benchmark US 10-year bond yield also rose..
The US Fed held interest rates steady on Wednesday, while policymakers indicated they expect to cut rates only once in 2024.
Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Fed chair Jerome Powell said the inflation outlook offered by the Fed is “a fairly conservative forecast” that may not be borne out by coming data, and is subject to revision.
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Powell added that better-than-expected inflation consumer price index data was something officials welcome.
The headline consumer price index was flat on a month on month basis in May, below expectations for a 0.1 per cent gain. Core prices rose 0.2 per cent, also below economists’ projections for a 0.3 per cent increase.
Gold’s lightning rally to successive record highs shows every sign of continuing in the second half of 2024 as the fundamental case for bullion remains firmly in place, though US$3,000 per ounce looks just out of reach, traders and industry experts said.
China’s consumer inflation held steady in May while producer price declines eased, but the underlying trend suggests Beijing would need to do more to prop up feeble domestic demand and an uneven economic recovery.
China is the biggest official sector buyer of gold.
Spot silver fell 2.6 per cent to US$28.94 per ounce, platinum was down 1.6 per cent at US$950.50 and palladium lost 1 per cent to US$897.25. REUTERS
