Gold inches higher on lacklustre dollar

Bengaluru — Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday, helped by a subdued dollar, but the precious metal bobbled in a narrow range as investors awaited signals from US jobs data on the labour market recovery.

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,814.27/oz by 3.03am GMT, while US gold futures were 0.1% higher at $1,816.00.

“Gold, like the currency markets, appears to be in wait-and-see mode,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific at Oanda.

“Gold’s price action remains consolidative but structurally positive and I believe that points to further gains ahead. The converging 100- and 200-day moving averages suggest a breakout is coming and I believe Friday’s US data will be a catalyst.”

The National Employment Report by payrolls processing firm ADP due later in the day could set the stage for the much-anticipated US nonfarm payroll numbers on Friday.

The labour market would take time to heal from the effects of the pandemic and more is needed to be done for the economy to get fully back on track, US Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman said on Tuesday. San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly expressed similar views.

The dollar was pinned near recent lows against other currencies.

Dovish remarks last week by Jerome Powell, the chair of the US central bank, on interest rate hikes being “ways away” had sent gold rising more than 1% while the dollar slipped to a one-month low.

Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.2% to 1,027.97 tonnes on Tuesday.

Silver gained 0.4% to $25.65/oz, while platinum was up 0.1% at $1,050.39.

Palladium rose 0.2% to $2,652.99 per ounce, having hit a one-week high of $2,707.28 in the previous session.

Reuters