By Anjana Anil
(Reuters) – Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday, as investors looked forward to more U.S. economic data this week that could set the tone for the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week.
Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,023.90 per ounce by 1223 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,026.30.
“Markets will be monitoring the policy signals out of major Western central banks. More dovish cues may help shore up bullion above the $2,000 mark,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity Group.
“Bullion may break below the $2,000 level if the prospects of a Fed rate cut in March continue diminishing,” Tan added.
The U.S. dollar was flat against a basket of currencies. A weaker dollar makes greenback-priced gold more attractive to other currency holders.
Fed officials last week said the U.S. central bank needs more inflation data in hand before any rate cut judgment could be made and that the baseline for cuts to start was in the third quarter.
Focus this week will be on the U.S. flash PMI report on Wednesday, fourth-quarter advance GDP estimates due on Thursday and personal consumption expenditures data on Friday.
Markets widely expect the Fed to hold rates unchanged at the end of the policy meeting on Jan. 30-31 and have pared back the timing of the first interest rate cut, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
The European Central Bank (ECB) meets on Thursday and is expected to hold monetary policy steady. Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding bullion.
“If central banks continue to counter the prevailing narrative that rate cuts will occur sooner rather than later, this could pressure the gold price from a yield perspective,” Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said.
Spot silver rose 0.8% to $22.25 per ounce, platinum climbed 0.7% to $898.91, while palladium lost 0.6% to $930.56.
(Reporting by Anjana Anil and Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Shailesh Kuber)
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