By Brijesh Patel
(Reuters) -Gold prices rose on Monday, helped by expectations of further U.S. interest rate cuts after comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve Board’s Christopher Waller, though a stronger dollar and easing trade tensions kept gains in check.
Spot gold was up 0.5% at $4,020.45 an ounce by 0905 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.9% to $4,031.50.
“We are still in a consolidation mode. The lack of U.S. economic data makes it a bit more difficult, but weaker U.S. economic data should support further Fed rate cuts and allow gold to move to $4,200 per ounce by the end of the year,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
The Fed should cut the policy interest rate again in December, Fed’s Waller said on Friday, citing weakness in the labour market.
Traders are now pricing in about a 70% chance of a Fed rate cut in December, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. Non-yielding gold thrives when interest rates are low and in times of economic uncertainty.
Investors have their eyes on other news, including ADP U.S. employment data and ISM PMIs this week, for indicators that could alter the Fed’s hawkish stance.
“Safe-haven play has been reduced at this point in time, over the de-escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions. It could also be a rotation towards a much more risk-on play in equities,” said OANDA analyst Kelvin Wong. [MKTS/GLOB]
U.S. President Donald Trump last week agreed to trim tariffs on China in exchange for concessions by Beijing on illicit fentanyl trade, U.S. soybean purchases and rare earths exports.
Meanwhile, the dollar index hovered near a three-month high, making gold more expensive for buyers with other currencies. [USD/]
Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.5% to $48.90 an ounce, platinum climbed 2.2% to $1,601.90 and palladium gained 1.3% to $1,452.58.
(Reporting by Brijesh Patel and Ishaan Arora in BengaluruEditing by David Goodman)
