Spot gold was little changed at $2,019.49 per ounce and US gold futures edged down 0.1 per cent to $2,033.20
Gold prices struggled for momentum in early Asian hours on Monday as investors looked forward to US inflation figures due later this week for more clarity on the US Fed’s interest rate path after a dovish pivot last week.
Spot gold was little changed at $2,019.49 per ounce, as at 0041 GMT. US gold futures edged down 0.1 per cent to $2,033.20.
The Fed held interest rates steady last week and signalled that the historic tightening of monetary policy engineered over the past two years is at an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024.
However, New York Fed president John Williams pushed back against soaring market expectations of rate cuts, and said that “we are not really talking about rate cuts right now” at the Fed and it’s “premature” to speculate about them.
Markets are now pricing in around a 70 per cent possibility of a Fed rate cut in March, according to CME FedWatch tool.
The BoJ holds its policy meeting on Tuesday amid speculations that it is considering how and when to move away from negative interest rates.
Markets are awaiting a slew of US economic data this week, including the November core personal consumption expenditure index report on Friday.
Analysts forecast core personal consumption expenditure to increase 0.2 per cent last month, with the annual inflation rate declining to its lowest since mid-2021 at 3.4 per cent.
Data on Friday showed US business activity rose in December amid increasing orders and demand for workers, which could further help to allay concerns of a sharp slowdown in economic growth in Q4.
Spot silver eased 0.2 per cent to $23.76 per ounce, while platinum added 0.1 per cent to $940.91 and palladium shed 1.6 per cent to $1,155.39.
