By Ashitha Shivaprasad
(Reuters) – Gold prices slipped on Tuesday as U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers stuck to a cautious tone on monetary policy and investors locked in profits after bullion hit an all-time high in the previous session.
Spot gold fell 0.3% at $2,417.95 per ounce, as of 0900 GMT, after scaling a record high of $2,449.89 on Monday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.7% at $2,421.70.
“The loss of momentum is inevitable at some point as new participants are already in but there is a chance of more investors arriving. Most people are in for the long haul and likely to stay there in view of geopolitical tensions, banking issues and so many elections around the world this year,” StoneX analyst Rhona O’Connell said.
“Gold’s key role is to offset risk, whether financial, geopolitical or volatility. That is not new, but sentiment has now realised.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
Geopolitical events and lower rates make non-yielding gold an appealing investment.
Recent data suggested that U.S. inflation resumed its downward trend, but several Fed policymakers remained cautious on Monday and want to make sure pricing pressures are fully back on track to the 2% target rate before starting to cut rates.
Investors will keep a tab on minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting due on Wednesday.
Spot silver fell 0.6% to $31.64 after hitting an over 11-year high in the last session.
“Silver is the beta for gold. Investors are attracted to silver because fundamentals are very strong coupled with growing industrial demand and it’s a cheaper alternative to gold,” said ANZ commodity strategist Soni Kumari.
Platinum lost 1.4% to $1,032.30 and palladium dropped 0.5% to $1,021.77.
Shares of BHP Group touched a three-month high about 36 hours ahead of a deadline to lodge a formal bid for rival miner Anglo American, which last week rejected a sweetened $43 billion takeover proposal.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad, additional reporting by Sherin Varghese in Bengaluru)
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