Gold prices rose slightly on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged, as expected, and indicated it was still leaning toward a possible interest rate cut.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,323.66 an ounce, by 0037 GMT, after climbing more than 1% in the previous session.
* US gold futures rose 1% to $2,333.30 an ounce.
* The Fed held interest rates on Wednesday, but put a red flag on recent disappointing inflation readings that could make those rate cuts longer in coming.
* Chairman Jerome Powell said he still expects inflation to fall over the course of the year, but that “my confidence in that is lower than it was.”
* Short-term US interest rate futures rose after the Fed meeting as traders bet that the US central bank would make at least one rate cut this year.
* Lower rates increase the incentive to hold bullion without yield.
* Investors are now eagerly awaiting the US non-farm payrolls report, which is due out on Friday.
* Wednesday’s ADP jobs report showed U.S. private jobs rose more than expected in April, while the previous month’s data was revised upwards.
* A U.S. Labor Department report showed that U.S. job openings fell to a three-year low in March, while the number of people leaving their jobs declined.
* Spot silver rose 0.6% to $26.79 an ounce, platinum gained almost 1% to $958.95 and palladium rose 0.8% to $956.31 .
