Gold slips on robust dollar ahead of Fed meeting

Bengaluru — Gold prices edged down on Tuesday as the dollar held firm near two-month highs, while investors awaited the outcome of a two-day US Federal Reserve policy meeting expected to result in a cut in interest rates.

Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,425.11 an ounce as of 4.27am GMT. US gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,424.30 an ounce.

“Liquidity is still thin as traders seem to be holding back before the Fed gives its views on monetary policy,” said Benjamin Lu, an analyst at Phillip Futures, adding that a firm dollar was putting pressure on gold prices.

“We are also looking at the tone of the Fed speech and how many more cuts are expected. Financial markets are expecting two more cuts in the second half. Overall, we are quite bullish on gold,” Lu said.

The US Fed begins its policy meeting on Tuesday, at which it is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points. If implemented, it would be the central bank’s first rate cut in a decade.

Meanwhile, the dollar firmed near a two-month high, as expectations of aggressive Fed rate cuts waned. A stronger dollar makes gold costlier for holders of other currencies.

“No one doubts that a (Fed) rate cut will be in store for us this time around,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.

However, “the giddy expectation prevalent at the beginning of the month calling for a series of cuts that could follow this one move, could be something that we think will be walked back slightly”.

The Bank of Japan kept its monetary settings steady on Tuesday but said it would ease “without hesitation” if the economy loses momentum for achieving the central bank’s 2% inflation target.

Also on investors’ radar was the US and China trade negotiations due to begin in Shanghai on Tuesday, although expectations for progress during the two-day meeting are low.

On the technical side, spot gold remains neutral in a range of $1,412-$1,427 an ounce, and an escape could suggest a direction, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.83% to 824.89 tons on Monday from Friday.

Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.1% at $16.44 an ounce and platinum fell 0.2%, to $877.12.

Palladium slipped 0.5% to $1,546.25 an ounce, after touching a near two-week high in the previous session.

Reuters