GOLD prices eased on Wednesday (May 29), as traders pared bets of rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve this year following remarks by some policymakers, while the market awaited key US inflation data due later this week.
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at US$2,357.70 per ounce, as at 0059 GMT, US gold futures were up 0.1 per cent at US$2,358.30.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank president Neel Kashkari said in an interview with CNBC broadcast that the US central bank should wait for significant progress on inflation before cutting interest rates.
Investors are now waiting for the April reading on the personal consumption expenditures price index, the US central bank’s preferred inflation gauge, which is due on Friday.
Traders’ bets signalled growing scepticism that the Fed will cut rates more than once in 2024, currently pricing in about a 60 per cent chance of a rate cut by November, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Bullion is known as an inflation hedge, but higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.
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Spot silver fell 0.5 per cent to US$31.95 per ounce, platinum was down 0.9 per cent at US$1,054.10 and palladium gained 0.1 per cent to US$973.47. REUTERS
