Gold prices remained steady on Wednesday as market participants awaited further guidance from U.S. Federal Reserve officials for clarity on the timing of potential interest rate cuts.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold held steady at $2,314.29 an ounce, at 00:37 GMT. U.S. gold futures lost 0.1% to $2,322.90.
* Lower interest rates increase the attractiveness of gold without yield. Markets currently see a 65% chance that US rates will be cut in September, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.
* Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said Tuesday that stagnant inflation, supported in part by a strong housing market, means the U.S. central bank will need to keep borrowing costs steady for a ” extended period”, or even the whole year.
* China’s central bank added 60,000 ounces of gold to its reserves in April, according to official data released Tuesday, extending the period of consecutive purchases to 18 months.
* Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.21% to 830.47 tonnes on Tuesday, from 832.19 tonnes on Monday.
* The United States said negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire should be able to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas, as Israeli forces seized the main Rafah border crossing on Tuesday .
* Global debt hit a record $315 trillion in the first quarter of the year, fueled by borrowing from emerging markets, the United States and Japan, a study shows.
* Spot silver fell 0.1% to $27.25 an ounce, platinum gained 0.5% to $981.10 and palladium rose 0.4% to $974.59 .
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 Germany Industrial production MM, YY March
1200 Brazil Retail sales YY March
2350 Japan Bank of Japan to release summary of board members’ views at its April 25-26 policy meeting (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
