By Anjana Anil
(Reuters) – Gold prices fell on Friday, weighed down by a slight uptick in the dollar after U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers signalled they were in no rush to cut interest rates this year.
Spot gold was down 0.4% at $2,016.43 per ounce, as of 0951 GMT, but still on track for a small weekly rise. U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% lower at $2,026.10 per ounce.
“This week, the U.S. dollar index has been slightly down, it is only marginally in the plus today- that is one of the factors which has provided gold a little bit support to trade higher but this morning we are again in the red,” said Quantitative Commodity Research analyst Peter Fertig.
The dollar index gained some footing but was heading for its first weekly dip in almost two months. A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced bullion less expensive to overseas buyers. [USD/]
Traders firmed up bets against any U.S. interest-rate cuts before June after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he is in “no rush” to cut rates. The bulk of policymakers at the Fed’s last meeting were concerned about the risks of cutting interest rates too soon, minutes showed.
Recent data showing higher-than-expected U.S. consumer and producer prices also dashed hopes for an early interest rate cut, further weighing on bullion.
Lower interest rates boost the appeal of holding non-yielding bullion.
“More hawkish comments from Fed officials overnight have been a modest drag for the yellow metal, suffering from higher U.S. interest rates and a reduction in U.S. rate cut expectations for this year,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
Meanwhile, a surge of interest in bitcoin exchange-traded funds is prompting some investors to swap out holdings in gold-backed ETFs.
Elsewhere, spot platinum dropped 1.6% to $889.75 per ounce and was down around 2% for the week so far. Palladium fell 1.4% to $954.13. Silver lost 0.8% to $22.57 per ounce, and was down 3.6% so far in the week.
(Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.