By Noel John
(Reuters) -Gold held steady on Monday as investors awaited U.S. economic data this week for clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory after prices fell more than 2% in the last session on reduced rate cut expectations.
Spot gold was steady at $4,079.48 per ounce as of 1047 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.3% to $4,081.50 per ounce.
Carlo Alberto De Casa, external analyst at Swissquote, said spot prices are stable as investor buying of gold as a hedge against market uncertainty after prices fell last week has offset some of the pressure from a firm U.S. dollar and reduced Fed rate cut expectations.
The dollar index extended gains for a second session, making dollar-priced bullion expensive for holders of other currencies. [USD/]
Markets will zero in on a string of U.S. data this week for signs of economic strength, with the delayed September nonfarm payrolls report due on Thursday.
Meanwhile, odds of a U.S. rate cut in December have slipped below 50% after policymakers struck a cautious tone, weighing on gold.
Traders now see a 44% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut in December, down from over 62% last week, the CME FedWatch tool showed.
Safe-haven gold tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment as it is a non-yielding asset.
Gold has surged 56% this year, hitting a record $4,381.21 on October 20, driven by economic and geopolitical jitters, robust ETF inflows and expectations of further rate cuts.
“Gold bull markets typically end when the underlying conditions that fuel them change. Since no such shift seems imminent, I would not be surprised to see prices continue to climb and reach $5,000 in 2026,” ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista said in a note.
Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.8% to $50.96 per ounce, platinum gained 0.3% to $1,545.94, while palladium fell 0.1% to $1,382.59.
(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Alexander Smith)
