© Reuters. Gold bars in a photo from the Reuters archive.
(Reuters) – It reversed direction on Tuesday as the dollar weakened as investors continued to wait for any indication that the US Federal Reserve would slow the pace of interest rate hikes.
And it rose 0.6% to $ 1658 an ounce by 1352 GMT, while US gold futures rose 0.5% to $ 1662.80.
“We are seeing some weakness and some upside in other currencies versus the dollar, which is pushing gold up again,” said Bob Haberkorn, chief market analyst at RGO Futures.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against six other major currencies, fell 0.9%, making gold less expensive for buyers outside the US.
Monday’s survey showed trade activity in the US declined for a fourth straight month, raising bets that the Federal Reserve could ease its monetary policy tightening.
Haberkorn added that if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to 75 basis points less than the expected amount, this will indicate a slowdown in the rises and lead to a rise in gold, “but gold traders are waiting for something more realistic. “.
Rising interest rates make gold less attractive because it increases the opportunity cost of acquiring non-returnable assets.
As for the other precious metals, in spot transactions it rose 0.4 percent to $ 19.34 an ounce, and platinum fell 0.7 percent to $ 918.35 an ounce, while it was dropped 2.1 percent to $ 1,927.25 an ounce.
(Prepared by Amira Zahran and Marwa Gharib for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Mustafa Saleh)
