“Gold prices rise as US economic data awaited before Federal Reserve meeting”

Gold prices rose today, Thursday, with the weakness of the dollar, while investors prepared for a group of US economic data issued before the monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve (Central Bank) next week.

By 02:30 GMT, spot gold rose 0.4% to $1996.50 an ounce, while US gold futures rose 0.5% to $2005.20.

The dollar index fell 0.1% on the day, making the yellow metal less expensive for holders of other currencies.

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives narrowly approved a bill to raise the government’s debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion.

Meanwhile, the market value of First Republic Bank fell again on Wednesday, as investors wait to see if it will be able to find buyers for the assets and turn around without government support.

Edward Meer, metals analyst at Marex, said that given the “turbulent overall banking situation” and “debt ceiling uncertainty, gold is likely to be more sensitive to the upside than the downside.”

Gold, which is considered a safe haven, rose to its highest level in a year at $ 2048.71 in mid-April when the banking crisis unfolded and weak economic readings in the United States increased bets on a temporary pause in raising interest rates.

Lower interest rates increase the attractiveness of non-yielding gold.

Traders will closely follow the US quarterly GDP and weekly jobless claims data, which will be released at 1230 GMT, after data showed on Wednesday that new orders for major US-manufactured goods fell more than expected in March, while shipments fell, which is likely. The lower spending on equipment led to a decline in economic growth in the first quarter of the year.

As for other precious metals, silver increased in spot transactions by 0.5%, to $25.02 an ounce. Platinum rose 0.3% to $1,092.68, and palladium rose 0.1% to $1,513.81.