By Polina Devitt
LONDON (Reuters) – Gold prices edged up on Tuesday after four consecutive sessions of fall as a weaker dollar and safe-haven demand coming from the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East provided support.
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,650.22 per ounce by 1142 GMT.
Gold prices, up 28% so far this year, were under pressure since Friday’s strong U.S. jobs report prompted markets to adjust estimates of the depth of U.S. November rate cuts. [FRX/]
“While this development may create headwinds in the short term, the prospect of lower US rates is still a welcome development for zero-yielding gold,” said FXTM senior research analyst Lukman Otunuga.
“In addition, escalating tensions in the Middle East could accelerate the flight to safety – keeping bulls in the game.”
In the Middle East, Hezbollah’s deputy leader said that the group backs efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, and for the first time omitted any mention of a Gaza truce deal as a pre-condition to halting the group’s attacks on Israel.
In China, where markets returned from the Golden Week holiday, benchmark PM gold price saw the worst post-Golden Week session since 2017 with a decline of 0.12%, said Hugo Pascal, precious metals trader at InProved.
Over the last seven years, the Chinese gold benchmark saw a growth of 0.63% on average after this annual holiday.
“While certain observers have claimed that Chinese were flocking to precious metals stores during the Golden Week, the data presents a contrasting narrative, highlighting ongoing weakness,” Pascal added.
Physical demand for gold in top consumer China has been muted in recent months with China’s central bank holding back on buying gold for its reserves for a fifth straight month in September.
Spot silver lost 1.1% to $31.38 per ounce, platinum rose 0.1% to $972.85 and palladium fell 0.9% to $1,015.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt in London; additional reporting by Daksh Grover and Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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