Gold inches higher, but faces worst month in seven

April 29 : Gold prices edged higher on Friday as lower U.S Treasury yields outweighed pressure from an elevated dollar, but bullion was still headed for its biggest monthly drop since September on fears of aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

FUNDAMENTALS


* Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,897.01 per ounce, as of 0054 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,898.10.

* Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields eased, increasing the appeal of holding non-yielding gold.

* Gold prices were headed for a second straight weekly loss and their biggest monthly percentage drop since September 2021 of about 2.1%.

* The dollar steadied near a 20-year high it hit against rivals in the previous session. A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced gold less attractive for other currency holders.

* On Thursday, the dollar’s strength played a part in pushing gold prices to their lowest in more than two months before bullion reversed its course.

* Fed officials have aligned around plans to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes this year but remain split over what could be the make-or-break decision of where to stop to avoid dragging the economy into recession.

* Higher short-term U.S. interest rates tend to increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

* Spot silver gained 0.2% to $23.17 per ounce, platinum dipped 0.1% to $918.67, and palladium rose 0.6% to $2,245.34. All were set for monthly falls.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)


0530 France GDP Preliminary QQ Q1

0600 UK Nationwide House Price MM, YY April

0645 France CPI (EU Norm) Prelim YY April

0800 Germany GDP Flash QQ SA Q1

0800 Germany GDP Flash YY NSA Q1

0900 EU HICP Flash YY April

0900 EU HICP-X F&E Flash YY April

0900 EU GDP Flash Prelim QQ, YY April

1230 US Consumption Adjusted MM March

1400 US U Mich Sentiment Final April