Gold prices were little changed on Thursday, while traders await a key U.S. inflation print due later in the day to gain further clarity of the Federal Reserve‘s monetary policy stance.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was nearly flat at $2,609.72 per ounce, as of 0040 GMT, after easing for the previous six sessions. Prices scaled a record high last month.
* U.S. gold futures also held steady at $2,626.70.
* The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September is due at 1230 GMT and Producer Price Index (PPI) data on Friday. * Markets currently see an 80% chance of a 25-basis-point rate reduction in November and a 20% probability the Fed keeps rates on hold, according to CME’s FedWatch.
* Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
* A “substantial majority” of Fed officials at the September meeting supported beginning an era of easier monetary policy with an outsized half-point rate cut, but agreed that further easing will be data-driven, according to minutes of the session.
* San Francisco Fed Bank President Mary Daly on Wednesday said one or two more rate cuts this year are likely if the economy evolves as she expects. While, Dallas Fed Bank President Lorie Logan said she wants smaller reductions ahead, given “still real” upside risks to inflation and “meaningful uncertainties” over the economic outlook.
* On the physical side, record-high gold prices dashed the Indian bullion industry’s expectations of a lucrative festival season after their hopes were boosted by a deep cut in import duty two months ago to the lowest in a decade.
* Spot silver edged 0.1% higher to $30.54 per ounce. Platinum added 1.1% to $955.20, while palladium inched 0.1% lower to $1,038.75.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0900 Germany Overall Comprehensive Risk Q4
0900 France Overall Comprehensive Risk Q4
0900 UK Overall Comprehensive Risk Q4
1230 US Core CPI MM, SA Sept
1230 US Core CPI YY, NSA Sept
1230 US CPI MM, SA Sept
1230 US CPI YY, NSA Sept
1230 US CPI Wage Earner Sept
1230 US Initial Jobless Clm 5 Oct.