Monday, April 28, 2025

Gold steady

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BENGALURU- Gold prices traded in a narrow range on Monday as investors looked to a key US jobs data to firm their bets on the size of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut expected this month.

Spot gold eased 0.1 percent at $2,499.47 per ounce. US gold futures inched up 0.2 percent to $2,531.90.

The Fed is expected to kick off a rate-cutting cycle at its policy meeting on Sept. 17-18. Traders currently see a 69 percent chance of a 25 basis points cut and a 31 percent chance of a 50 bps cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

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“The lead-up to the US non-farm payrolls may put gold prices in their near-term range to start the week. Investors look towards a series of economic data to help resolve the debate between a 25 bp and a 50 bp cut for the upcoming Fed meeting,” said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

Major data due this week are the ISM surveys, JOLTS job openings, ADP employment and the non-farm payrolls report. For the payrolls report, due Friday, a Reuters poll predicts 165,000 headline jobs created in August and a dip in the unemployment rate to 4.2 percent.

Spot gold fell 1 percent in the previous session after data showed that US consumer spending increased solidly in July, arguing against a half-percentage-point rate cut.

“Nevertheless, the recent move to an all-time high continues to be well-defended for gold prices,” added Yeap.

Non-yielding bullion tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment.
Meanwhile, COMEX gold speculators raised their net long positions by 69 contracts to 236,818 in the week ended Aug. 27, data showed on Friday.

Spot silver rose 0.6 percent to $28.66 per ounce, platinum nearly steady at $926.50 and palladium was up 0.1 percent to $966.25.

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