Gold prices were stuck in a tight range on Thursday as investors looked to U.S. economic data for further clarity on the Federal Reserve‘s interest rate path.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was flat at $2,317.03 per ounce, as of 0118 GMT, trading in a $4 range. Bullion’s March to April rally drove it up by nearly $400 to an all-time high of $2,431.29 on April 12.
* U.S. gold futures were down 0.4% at $2,329.00 per ounce.
* Investors are waiting for the first-quarter U.S. gross domestic product data due later in the day and March personal consumption expenditures (PCE) report on Friday, after a hotter-than-expected March consumer price inflation reading pushed back rate-cut expectations.
* Recent remarks from Federal Reserve officials hinted at no urgency to cut rates. Traders now expect the first Fed rate cut to come most likely in September.
* Higher interest rates reduce the appeal of holding non-yielding gold. * British multinational miner Anglo American said it had received an all-share buyout proposal from the world’s largest listed mining company, Australia’s BHP Group. * The depreciation of Asian currencies against the U.S. dollar, and the steps monetary authorities may take to prevent further weakness, dominate the market landscape across Asia as the Bank of Japan gets its two-day policy meeting underway.
* Spot silver rose 0.1% to $27.19 per ounce, platinum was up 0.1% at $903.20, while palladium fell 0.5% to $995.76.