NEW YORK: Gold prices were steady on Thursday, after touching another record high earlier in the session, driven by the Federal Reserve’s indication of likely interest rate cuts later this year and geopolitical and economic uncertainty fuelling safe-haven demand for the bullion.
Spot gold held steady at $3,044.44 an ounce as of 0928 GMT, after hitting a record high of $3,057.21 earlier in the session. US gold futures gained 0.3% to $3,050.90. “The US dollar index is up, weighing on the prices of the precious metals,” Quantitative Commodity Research analyst Peter Fertig said.
But with the support of ongoing geopolitical factors and strong central bank demand, gold could still see upward momentum, he added. The US dollar was up 0.3%, making bullion more expensive for foreign buyers. Trump’s tariffs are widely seen as inflationary and have prompted gold to notch 16 record highs so far this year, four of them above the $3,000 milestone.
Meanwhile, the US central bank left its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, but the Fed is still expected to deliver rate cuts by the end of this year. “The stage seems set for gold to continue higher, but the market may run out of near-term catalysts as traders price in the new post-FOMC consensus,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.
Traders are pricing in 66 basis points of easing this year from the Fed, about two rate reductions of 25 bps each, with a cut in July fully priced in, LSEG data showed. Gold acts as a hedge against uncertainty and tends to do well in a low-interest rate environment.
“Investor demand for gold has surged in recent months on the uncertain economic and geopolitical backdrop… If the recent growth in demand evaporates, it would expose the market to downside risk,” ANZ said in a Thursday note. Spot silver fell 0.7% to $33.58 an ounce, platinum fell 0.3% to $990.20. Palladium slipped 0.4% to $954.38. “Gold remains firmly bullish with the next resistance at the psychological $3,100 level… weakness below $3,030 may trigger a decline lower,” said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM.
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