Photo by: Bloomberg
Gold rose toward a record on expectations the US Federal Reserve will move to cut interest rates this year as inflation cools.
Bullion for immediate delivery edged higher on Monday after rallying almost 5% last week, setting a nominal high on four successive days. Gains on Friday were supported by US data showing the jobless rate at a two-year high, which helped push the dollar and ten-year Treasury yields lower.
Gold has spiked in March, with the move taking some investors by surprise given there’s been no major change in the outlook for when the Fed would start cutting. In congressional testimony last week, Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the central bank needs “just a bit more evidence” inflation is headed toward its 2% target before lowering borrowing costs. Fellow policymakers have made similar remarks.
A test of gold bulls’ optimism will come this week with fresh US inflation data due for release on Tuesday. A hotter-than-expected reading — as happened last month — would be a setback for further gains in the precious metal, which doesn’t offer a yield and benefits from a lower-rate environment.
Spot gold was 0.3% higher at $2 185.56 a ounce at 9 a.m. in Singapore after setting a peak last week of $2 195.15. Other precious metals have also been rallying hard, with silver jumping more than 5% last week to top $24 an ounce. Palladium, meanwhile, rose almost 7% last week as platinum added 3%.