By Swati Verma
(Reuters) -Gold steadied on Tuesday ahead of central bank meetings this week that could offer insights on global economy and policy outlook, but the safe-haven metal was set to end its best performing month in almost a year as the Israel-Hamas war unfolded.
Spot gold had advanced to as high as $2,009.29 an ounce on Friday, the highest since mid-May, as investors bolted for safety amid the Middle East crisis.
The rush for safety spurred gold from $1,809.50 on Oct. 6, a day before Hamas’ attack on Israel, and set bullion on track for an 8% rise this month, the most since November 2022.
Spot gold was down 0.1% to $1,994.15 per ounce by 0306 GMT. U.S. gold futures eased 0.1% to $2,003.60.
“It appears that Israel taking a slightly more measured approach to its incursion into Gaza has eased fears slightly of a broadening crisis in the Middle East,” said Kyle Rodda, financial market analyst at Capital.com.
“However, the move back below $2,000 is only marginal, and the price still reflects heightened risks of an escalation in the conflict.”
Investors’ focus this week is on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision Wednesday, followed by U.S. monthly jobs report Friday.
“Provided the conflict does not spread into key oil producing (countries), the Fed’s higher for longer narrative should see some of the risk premium associated with gold unwind over the next few weeks,” TD Securities said in a note.
The Bank of Japan is expected to revise its inflation forecasts and discuss additional tweaks to its bond yield control at its meeting on Tuesday. The Bank of England’s decision is due Thursday.
In other metals, spot silver fell 0.6% to $23.17 and platinum was down 0.1% to $928.58, with both set for monthly gains. Palladium eased 0.3% to $1,124.69 and eyed an over 9% decline this month.
(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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