The price of gold fell slightly on Monday as the stability of the US dollar made bullion less affordable for foreign buyers, while investors await new clues on when the US Federal Reserve will make its first rate cut of interest.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was down 0.3% at $2,328.20 an ounce by 0112 GMT. U.S. gold futures were down 0.3% at $2,339.70 an ounce.
* The dollar rose 0.1% against its rivals. A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced gold more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
* The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3% last month, in line with forecasts, which is unlikely to change expectations that the Fed will not cut interest rates until september.
* Fed policymakers, looking at the latest inflation data, will find nothing to fuel a sense of urgency to cut rates, but also nothing to rule out the likelihood of a rate cut from the end of the year.
* The fall in interest rates reinforces the interest in holding bullion without yield.
* China’s gold consumption in the first quarter rose nearly 6% from a year earlier, the country’s Gold Association said.
* Physical gold traders in India asked for premiums last week for the first time in almost two months as a drop in domestic prices attracted buyers, while premiums in China, the main consumer, declined .
* Impala Platinum said the restructuring of its South African operations could lead to 3,900 job losses as it faces weak metals prices.
* China’s industrial profits fell in March and slowed gains for the quarter from the first two months, raising doubts about the strength of the recovery for the world’s second-largest economy.
* Silver fell 0.2% to $27.12 an ounce, platinum fell 0.1% to $915.10, while palladium lost 0.8% to $946.75 .
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0900 Confid. of EU consumers. Final April 1200 Germany ICC Prelim YY April 1200 Germany HICP Prelim YY April
