© Reuters. Gold bars on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Photo from the Reuters archive.
(Reuters) – It jumped nearly 2% on Tuesday to its highest level in more than five months after data showed a weaker-than-expected rise in US consumer prices, bolstering expectations the Federal Reserve will cut the pace of interest rate hikes.
It rose 2.1% to $1,817.64 an ounce by 14:36 GMT, the highest since June 30. US gold futures rose 2.2% to $1,830.90.
“Gold and silver are both on the rise, supported by safe-haven buying and also by expectations of a possible slowdown in interest rates,” said Bob Haberkorn, chief market strategist at RJO Futures.
US consumer prices rose slightly in November on falling gasoline and used-car prices, resulting in the smallest annual increase in inflation in nearly a year.
After the CPI data was released, it fell more than 1% to its lowest level in about six months, making gold less expensive for holders of other currencies. Ten-year benchmark yields have also declined.
The Federal Reserve is expected to issue a policy statement at 19:00 GMT on Wednesday, followed by a press conference by Bank President Jerome Powell.
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are also meeting this week and each are expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points.
As for other precious metals, it rose in spot transactions by 2.5% to $23.87 an ounce, and platinum was up 4.1% to $1,042.25, while it was up 4.3 % to $1,969.25.
(Prepared by Amira Zahran and Muhammad Aysem for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Mustafa Saleh)
