BENGALURU: Gold prices rose more than 1% on Thursday to their highest level in two weeks, as recent US economic data showing signs of a slowdown in the world’s largest economy boosted bets for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year. Spot gold was up 1% at $2,351.55 per ounce as of 10:04 a.m. ET (1404 GMT), its highest since June 7. US gold futures rose 0.8% to $2,365.50.

“The market is starting to increasingly expect the US central bank to start its easing program. I suspect we might be getting some long positions getting installed into the market,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

US jobless claims fell in the latest week, data showed, suggesting a generally stable labour market. US single-family homebuilding in May fell 5.2% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 982,000 units. Last week’s data showed a moderation in the labour market and price pressures, followed up with soft retail sales data on Tuesday, suggesting that economic activity remained lacklustre in the second quarter.

“The precious metals bulls are more confident late this week, following the weaker US retail sales report earlier this week,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior market analyst at Kitco Metals, in a note. Traders are currently pricing in about a 64% chance of a Fed rate cut in September, according to CME FedWatch Tool.

Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. Safe-haven demand, driven by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as persistent central bank buying contributed to a rally in gold from March to May, taking spot prices to a record high of $2,449.89 on May 20.

Among other precious metals, spot silver rose 2.1% to $30.37 per ounce, platinum eased 0.1% to $979.45 and palladium gained 1.7% to $920.