By Sherin Elizabeth Varghese
(Reuters) – Gold prices held steady on Tuesday despite a stronger dollar and elevated Treasury yields, as investors awaited the minutes of the last U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting for more clues on its interest rate cut timing.
Spot gold was flat at $2,018.03 per ounce, as of 0341 GMT. Most of the U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the President’s Day holiday.
U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% at $2,029.10 per ounce.
The dollar index was up 0.1% and yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were up near 4% levels, making greenback-priced bullion less appealing to overseas buyers.
“With the U.S. on a long weekend and a lack of market-driving news, volatility levels are lower across the board,” City Index senior analyst Matt Simpson said.
“I doubt we’ll glean too much from the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes since Fed members have been highly vocal on their stance, and the meeting was ahead of last week’s inflation data.. that means gold might continue to be a technically-driven market over the near-term.”
The minutes from the Fed’s January policy meeting is due on Wednesday.
Despite “remarkable” progress on U.S. inflation, Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said “there is more work to do” to ensure stable prices. Another Fed official also cautioned against delaying rate cuts for too long.
Hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer prices and producer prices data last week dashed hopes around a Fed rate cut in March.
Markets are currently pricing a 75% chance of a cut in June, according to the CME Fed Watch Tool. Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding bullion.
Spot platinum fell 0.6% to $893.16 per ounce, palladium was down 0.8% to $946.41, while silver also fell 0.4% to $22.93 per ounce.
(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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