By Seher Dareen
(Reuters) – Gold fell more than 1% on Thursday on a firmer dollar and strong U.S. economic data that could prompt the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer.
Spot gold dipped 1% to $1,926.86 per ounce by 12:31 p.m. ET (1731 GMT) after having slipped as much as $1,919.49. Prices also hit their highest since April 2022 at $1,949.09 earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures were down 0.8% to $1,927.80.
The U.S. economy maintained a strong pace of growth in the fourth quarter as consumers boosted spending on goods, but the momentum appears to have slowed considerably towards the end of the year.
The dollar index gained 0.4%, holding near session-highs and making gold less attractive for holders of other currencies. [USD/]
Benchmark Treasury yields were also near their session-highs, weighing on bullion. [US/]
“The overall take from this data is the economy and the jobs market remains resilient, the dip in personal consumption in Q4 is probably sentiment driven, but overall it certainly gives the Fed room to be higher for longer,” said Tai Wong, a senior trader at Heraeus Precious Metals in New York.
Initial jobless claims also fell more than expected, signalling a tight labour market.
Money markets are pricing in a 25-basis-points rate hike from the Fed’s policy-setting committee’s two-day meeting next week, with a terminal rate of 4.9% in June, still below the 5% rate backed by many policymakers.
The core personal consumer expenditure numbers on Friday ahead of the meetings next week will be playing on the minds of bulls as well as bears, said independent analyst Ross Norman.
Lower interest rates tend to be beneficial for bullion, decreasing the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.
Spot silver was up 0.1% to $23.92 per ounce, platinum dipped 2.4% to $1,014.86, while palladium slipped 1.2% to $1,677.79.
(Reporting by Seher Dareen and Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Devika Syamnath)
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