GOLD prices were little changed on Wednesday (Aug 28), but held near a record high hit last week on prospects of imminent US rate cuts and safe-haven demand fuelled by the Middle East crisis.
Spot gold was flat at US$2,524.88 per ounce, as at 0033 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of US$2,531.60 on Aug 20.
US gold futures rose 0.3 per cent to US$2,560.20.
Members of the boards of directors overseeing the Chicago and New York Federal Reserve banks voted in favour of lowering by a quarter percentage point the central bank’s discount rate during July, meeting minutes showed.
Traders have fully priced in a Fed easing for next month, with a 67 per cent chance of a 25-basis-point (bp) cut and about 33 per cent chance of a bigger 50-bp reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Meanwhile, an Israeli air strike hit a pickup truck travelling in northeast Lebanon late on Tuesday, two security sources said, with one of the sources saying it carried military equipment.
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Bullion is considered a hedge against geopolitical and economic uncertainties and tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment.
Elsewhere, US consumer confidence rose to a six-month high in August amid optimism over the economic outlook.
Investors now await the Personal Consumption Expenditures data, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, scheduled for Friday.
Spot silver was little changed at US$29.99 per ounce, platinum gained 0.6 per cent to US$959.21 and palladium climbed 0.2 per cent to US$971.95. REUTERS
