July 21 Gold prices climbed on Friday as a weaker dollar made bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies, while the metal was poised for a third consecutive weekly gain on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will pause rate hikes after July.
FUNDAMENTALS
By 0119 GMT, spot gold increased 0.1% to $1,971.79 per ounce. So far this week, gold has increased by almost 1%.
Futures for U.S. gold increased 0.2% to $1,973.80.
The metal dropped on Thursday after reaching a two-month high as bond yields and the dollar rose due to better-than-anticipated U.S. labour market data.
In spite of efforts by the U.S. Fed to slow demand, the number of Americans submitting new claims for unemployment benefits surprisingly decreased last week, reaching its lowest level in two months.
The dollar index fell by 0.1%.
According to CME’s Fedwatch tool, the Fed is anticipated to increase rates by 25 basis points (bps) during its meeting on July 25–26, keeping them in the 5.25%–5.5% range until interest rate reductions are anticipated starting in 2024.
The majority of economists surveyed by Reuters anticipate that the Fed’s boost at its July meeting will be the final increase in the current tightening cycle.
In Asia, Japan’s core consumer inflation resumed its upward trend in June and continued to exceed the central bank’s 2% objective for a 15th consecutive month, increasing the likelihood that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will increase this year’s inflation at its policy meeting on July 27–28.
At the beginning of July, Russia’s gold reserves totaled 74.9 million troy ounces, the central bank reported on Thursday.
Spot silver increased by 0.4 percent to $24.84 an ounce, platinum increased by 0.4 percent to $956.86, and palladium increased by 0.2 percent to $1,280.43.
UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM June 0600 DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0600 UK Retail Sales MM, YY June