Gold holds above $1,900/oz on smaller U.S. rate-hike bets

Gold prices held steady above the key $1,900 per ounce level during early Asian hours on Tuesday, buoyed by hopes of slower interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was unchanged at $1,917.24 per ounce, as of 0034 GMT. On Monday, prices hit $1,929, the highest since late-April 2022.

* U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,920.80.

* Investors are mostly expecting a 25 basis points (bps) rate hike increase at the Fed’s next policy meeting. The U.S. central bank raised rates by 75 bps four times last year, before slowing to a 50 bps increase in December.

* Lower rates tend to be beneficial for bullion as they decrease the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.

* Meanwhile, China’s economy is expected to have slowed sharply in the fourth quarter due to stringent COVID curbs, dragging down 2022 growth to one of its worst in nearly half a century. * Latest economic data shows the European Union may avoid a recession that was expected earlier and have a more shallow contraction instead, European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday.

* Spot silver inched 0.5% lower to $24.27, platinum fell 0.1% to $1,061.77 while palladium rose 0.5% to $1,759.67.