Gold holds steady as dollar slips to almost two-week low

Bengaluru — Gold prices were steady on Monday near their highest since July 17 as the dollar eased to its lowest in nearly two weeks after US President Donald Trump criticised the Federal Reserve’s interest rate tightening policy.

Spot gold was at $1,231.87/oz, up 0.03%, at 4.17am GMT. The metal gained 0.7% in the previous session. US gold futures for August delivery were 0.1% higher at $1,232.10/oz.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2% at 94.305. It fell to its weakest since July 11 earlier in the session.

Trump on Friday reinforced his criticism of the Federal Reserve’s policy on raising interest rates, saying it took away from the US’s “big competitive edge” and could hurt the US economy.

“Comments over the weekend from Trump changed the environment somewhat, with the apparent push now to really weaken the US dollar,” said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.

The dollar has been a significant headwind for gold over the past month or so, so it opens up the possibility that we will not see that continued strength in the US dollar, Hynes said.

A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced gold cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

Elsewhere, global finance leaders from the world’s 20 largest economies ended a two-day weekend meeting in Buenos Aires with little consensus on how to resolve multiple disputes over US tariff actions. Trump on Friday said he was ready to impose tariffs on all $500bn of imported goods from China, threatening to escalate a clash over trade policy that has unnerved financial markets.

Gold is usually seen as an alternative investment in times of political and economic uncertainty.

Spot gold might break a resistance at $1,237/oz and rise more towards the next resistance at $1,246, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

Hedge funds and money managers switched to a net short position in Comex gold contracts for the first time since 2016 in the week to July 17, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Friday.

In other precious metals, silver was up 0.2% at $15.51/oz.

Palladium fell 0.4% at $890.72/oz and platinum was 0.3% lower at $823.80/oz.

Reuters