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Singapore: Gold prices held above the $2,500 mark yesterday, buoyed by a weaker US dollar and Treasury yields, while traders awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting for further cues on interest rate cuts.
Spot gold edged 0.1% higher to $2,505.92 per ounce. Prices had hit an all-time high of $2,509.65 on Friday.
US gold futures rose 0.1% to $2,543.90.
Spot silver fell 0.3% to $29.39 per ounce, platinum gained 0.3% to $956.41 and palladium shed 0.2% to $930.25.
Gold broke to a fresh record, a third successive day of new peaks -- on Fed rate cut bets that would make the yellow metal more attractive to investors.
US shares rose strongly last week as data indicated that US inflation is slowing and labour market softening.
That soothed fears of a recession, while still leaving the door open for the Fed to finally start unwinding its long-running tight monetary policy.
But there were few incentives Tuesday to keep bidding up prices.
“Today looks like a waiting game ahead of Federal Reserve minutes due tomorrow and a host of retail earnings the rest of the week,” said Joe Mazzola, a strategist at Charles Schwab.
Earnings from retailer Lowe’s yesterday, and Target and TJX Wednesday, should provide more insight into consumer confidence after reassuring retail sales figures last week.
