By Sherin Elizabeth Varghese
(Reuters) – Gold prices ticked up on Tuesday supported by a slightly weaker dollar and lower Treasury yields as investors primed for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting for updates on the timing of its interest rate cuts.
Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,032.70 per ounce by 1239 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.4% to $2,032.60.
“Gold is benefitting from the moderating U.S. dollar and Treasury yields, even as markets continue to wrestle with the odds for a Fed rate cut in March,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity Group.
The dollar index fell 0.2%, making gold more appealing to other currency holders. The yields on the benchmark U.S. Treasury note reached a two-week low of 4.0360%.
“Gold could falter back towards the psychologically-important $2k mark if Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushes back against expectations for a policy pivot starting in March and bullion may climb beyond $2050 if Powell fails to deter markets from believing that a Fed rate cut in March is likelier than not,” Tan added.
Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding bullion.
The Fed’s policy decision is due on Wednesday, having made a dovish tilt in the December meeting. Markets are widely expecting the U.S. central bank to leave rates unchanged at the end of the two-day meeting.
A Reuters poll showed on Monday that uncertainty about the economy and U.S. interest rate cuts could drive record gold prices in 2024. [PREC/POLL]
Meanwhile, analysts and traders downgraded their price forecasts for platinum and palladium in 2024 as demand struggles to rise significantly, but they still expect prices for both to rebound from current levels, as per a Reuters poll.
Spot platinum fell 0.6% to $921.39 an ounce, spot palladium was down 0.5% at $977.96. Spot silver fell 0.5% to $23.08 per ounce.
(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal and Shailesh Kuber)
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