Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and jobs data for further clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was flat at $2,332.27 an ounce, as of 0025 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,342.70.
* Traders will look for clues about interest rate cuts when Powell speaks later in the day. Next up are the minutes of the U.S. central bank’s latest meeting scheduled for Wednesday and the nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday.
* New York Fed President John Williams said Sunday he continued to believe price pressures were moderating and returning to the levels the central bank had targeted.
* While bullion is considered a hedge against inflation, higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding this non-yielding asset.
* Data on Monday showed U.S. manufacturing contracted for a third straight month in June, while a decline in a measure of prices factories pay for inputs to a level lower than six months ago suggested inflation could continue to ease.
* Separately, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the ECB was in no rush to cut rates further.
* The SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.17% to 827.61 tonnes on Monday from 829.05 tonnes on Friday.
* Spot silver fell 0.1% to $29.41 an ounce, platinum was flat at $978.20 and palladium edged up 0.8% to $978.80.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0900 EU IPCH Flash YY June
0900 IPCH-X F, E, A&T de l’UE Flash MM, YY Juin
0900 EU HICP Unemployment Rate May
