Gold prices edge up as dollar eases

Gold prices ticked up on Thursday as the U.S. dollar eased, with traders awaiting new indications on the Federal Reserve’s rate hike plans.

* Spot gold was up 0.1% to $1,806.28 per ounce as of 0105 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,812.50.

* The dollar index slipped 0.1%. A weaker greenback makes bullion less expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

* Bullion prices dropped 1% on Wednesday, pressured by a stronger dollar and higher Treasury yields.

* Investors’ focus now shifts to the U.S. weekly initial jobless claims data due at 1330 GMT.

* Gold has risen nearly $200 from a more than two-year low hit in September on expectations that the U.S. central bank would slow its pace of interest rate hikes, increasing the appeal of the non-yielding asset.

* Top bullion consumer China on Monday scrapped its COVID-19 quarantine rule for inbound travellers even as hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure from surging COVID-19 cases.
* Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes fell far more than expected in November, diving for a sixth straight month in the latest indication of the hefty toll the Fed’s interest rate hikes are taking on the housing market as the central bank seeks to curb inflation.

* Spot silver gained 0.2% to $23.58, platinum slipped 0.1% to $1,006.98 and palladium rose 0.2% to $1,787.04.