Spot gold was flat at $2,022.39 per ounce, US gold futures were also steady at $2,036.20 per ounce
Gold prices steadied in a tight range on Monday in holiday-thinned trading, as investors awaited remarks from a slew of US Fed officials in a data-packed week.
Spot gold was flat at $2,022.39 per ounce, wavering in a $5 range, as of 0340 GMT.
US gold futures were also steady at $2,036.20 per ounce.
Gold is remarkably resilient, given we have seen nearly 60 bps of cuts (for 2024) come out of the market since the January high, said Kyle Rodda, a financial market analyst at Capital.com.
Positioning is neutral, and if the data deteriorates weakening the dollar and deepening US rate cut bets, then gold will shine again. The big risk this week is CPI — if that comes in hot, another test of $2,000/oz level could be on the cards, Rodda added.
Trading is expected to be thin during Asian trading hours because of holidays in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.
COMEX gold speculators raised their net long position by 10,616 contracts to 82,591 in the week ended February 6, data showed on Friday.
Market participants will focus on US CPI data on Tuesday, retail sales data on Thursday and PPI data on Friday, while also awaiting remarks from 7 Fed officials this week.
Several Fed officials, including chairman Jerome Powell, have said last week that they want to see more evidence that inflation will continue to decline, before cutting rates.
Traders have all but ruled out a rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting in March, per LSEG’s Interest Rate Probability app, IRPR. It shows nearly a 62% probability of a cut in the May meeting.
Spot platinum dropped 0.2% to $870.25 per ounce, while palladium gained 0.3% to $861.48 and silver rose 0.3% to $22.66.
