By Rahul Paswan
(Reuters) – Gold prices rose by more than 1% on Monday to hit the highest since Aug. 2, driven by safe-haven inflows as traders awaited U.S. inflation data this week that could shed more light on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut path.
Spot gold rose 1.5% to $2,468.25 per ounce as of 1818 GMT. U.S. gold futures settled 1.2% higher at $2,504.
“What we’re seeing today in the gold and silver markets is some price support coming from bullish charts in gold prompting some technical buying,” said Jim Wycoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
“You’re also seeing a little bit of safe-haven demand coming from heightened tensions in the Middle East,” Wycoff said.
Israeli forces pressed on with operations near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday amid an international push for a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and prevent a slide into a wider regional conflict with Iran and its proxies.
Meanwhile Ukrainian forces rammed through the Russian border last Tuesday and swept across some western parts of Russia’s Kursk region, a surprise attack that laid bare the weakness of Russian border defences in the area.
Investors will also be looking out for the U.S. producer prices data on Tuesday and consumer prices numbers on Wednesday for more clarity on inflation.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman on Saturday softened her usually hawkish tone slightly, noting some further “welcome” progress on inflation in the last couple of months.
Markets are pricing in a 49% chance of a 50 basis point rate cut by the Fed in September, the CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows.
Bullion is considered a hedge against geopolitical and economic uncertainties and tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment.
“Every way you look at it, gold now screens as a well-populated trade. The Street is unanimously bullish, but macro fund positioning may now be tapped out without an imminent recession,” TD Securities said in a note.
Elsewhere, spot silver rose 1.8% to $27.94 per ounce, platinum added 2.2% to $942.20 and palladium was about 1.7% higher at $919.36.
(Reporting by Rahul Paswan and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams and Shreya Biswas)
