GOLD prices rose on Thursday (Jun 6), building on the previous session’s gains as investors awaited US non-farm payrolls data that could determine whether interest rates will be cut earlier than expected this year.
Spot gold was up 0.4 per cent at US$2,365.40 per ounce, as at 0121 GMT, after a more than 1 per cent gain on Wednesday. US gold futures rose 0.4 per cent to US$2,384.50.
The US dollar index inched down 0.1 per cent, while benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields lingered near a two-month low, making bullion more attractive to investors.
US private payrolls increased less than expected in May, while data for the prior month was revised lower.
Investors now await the non-farm payrolls data due on Friday to gauge the US economy’s health and if it will deter the Federal Reserve from cutting rates in September.
The Fed will cut its key interest rate in September and once more this year, according to a majority of forecasters in a Reuters poll that also showed a significant risk they opt for only one or none at all.
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Traders are currently pricing in about a 70 per cent chance of a rate cut in September, according to CME FedWatch tool.
Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank was all but certain to cut rates from record highs and was likely to acknowledge it had made progress in its battle against high inflation, while also stressing the fight was not yet over.
Russia’s finance ministry said it would reduce its purchases of foreign currency and gold in the month ahead, a move that will increase the state’s overall forex sales.
Spot silver rose 1.2 per cent to US$30.36 per ounce, platinum was up 0.9 per cent at US$1,001.70 and palladium gained 1.1 per cent to US$941.25. REUTERS
