2024-02-15T04:54:52+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ Gold prices settled near their lowest level in two months on Thursday, as traders assessed mixed comments from Federal Reserve officials on January inflation data that dampened some hopes for a major interest rate cut soon.
Spot gold was at $1,992.77 an ounce by 01:57 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Dec. 13 on Wednesday.
US gold futures were at $2,004.60 an ounce.
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said on Wednesday that the central bank will remain on track to hit its 2 percent inflation target even if inflation is slightly higher than expected over the next few months. The consumer price index rose 3.1 percent on an annual basis, above expectations for a 2.9 percent increase.
He added that the central bank should be careful about waiting too long before cutting interest rates.
Gold fell about 1.4 percent after the consumer price index data, its biggest daily decline since December 4.
Among other precious metals, platinum fell 0.3 percent to $886.46, palladium fell 0.5 percent to $929.72, and silver fell 0.1 percent to $22.35 an ounce.
Meanwhile, the dollar held below a three-month high on Thursday as investors sought to calculate when the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates.
The yen moved away from a three-month low against the dollar hit on Tuesday, despite coming under fresh pressure this week as data showed Japan’s economy slipped into recession and unexpectedly contracted for two straight quarters due to weak domestic demand.
US inflation data has raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will announce its first interest rate cut in the middle of the year.
The data showed that the consumer price index rose 3.1 percent in January on an annual basis, compared to expectations for a 2.9 percent rise.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, held steady below a fresh three-month high of 104.97 touched on Wednesday, ahead of U.S. retail sales data for January later on Thursday. It was last at 104.69.
The yen rose 0.23 percent against the dollar to 150.26, continuing its rise.
This decline caused Japan to lose its title as the world’s third largest economy, to be replaced by Germany.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar fell after a weak batch of jobs data, falling 0.15 percent to $0.648.
The New Zealand dollar also fell 0.06 percent to $0.60825.
The pound was last at $1.2558 ahead of Britain’s GDP data due on Thursday.
The euro was little changed at $1.0727.
Among cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rose 0.67 percent to $52,120.55. It had risen to $52,544.51 earlier in the session, surpassing a 25-month high of $52,079 touched on Wednesday.