Gold Rate Today: Yellow metal trades flat ahead of US inflation print

Gold prices were steady on Tuesday as traders refrained from taking new positions after the bullion hit a record high ahead of US consumer prices data that could provide clues on the Federal Reserve‘s monetary policy trajectory.

The April gold futures were trading at Rs 65,995 per 10 grams on the MCX at 10:06 am and were down by Rs 40 or 0.06% from Monday’s closing price. Meanwhile, the May Silver futures were trading at Rs 74,525 per kg and were higher by Rs 11 or 0.01% around this time.

Spot gold was flat at $2,182.48 per ounce, as of 0157 GMT, after rising for nine consecutive sessions. Bullion hit a record peak of $2,194.99 on Friday.

“Gold and silver held steady as traders anticipated U.S. inflation data, with a weakening dollar providing support to precious metal prices,” said Rahul Kalantri, VP of Commodities, Mehta Equities.

The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report for February, due at 6.00 pm IST, is forecast to rise 0.4% for the month and keep the annual pace steady at 3.1%. Core inflation is seen rising 0.3%, which will nudge the annual pace down to the lowest since early 2021 at 3.7%.

Meanwhile, the dollar held broadly steady on Tuesday, while the yen firmed near a one-month high on mounting expectations that the Bank of Japan could exit negative interest rates as early as next week.”Gold is expected to be range-bound ahead of the FOMC minutes release. It can draw some support from commercial real estate and geopolitical developments otherwise path of least resistance is likely to be down,” said Praveen Singh, Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.Traders are pricing in three to four quarter-point (25 bps) U.S. rate cuts, with a 70% chance for the first in June, as per LSEG’s interest rate probability app.

“Gold finds support at $2,168-$2,152, with resistance seen between $2,198-$2,214. Silver’s support levels are set at $24.20-$23.98, with resistance at $24.55-$24.68,” said Rahul Kalantri.

In terms of the INR, gold has support at Rs 65,760-64,580, and faces resistance at Rs 66,240-66,420. Silver support is at Rs 73,840-73,380, with resistance levels at Rs 74,940-75,580, Kalantri said.

Spot platinum rose 0.5% to $937.60 per ounce, palladium climbed 0.3% to $1,033.35 and silver advanced 0.3% to $24.49.

(With inputs from agencies)

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