Gold hits record high on rising hopes for Fed rate cut in June

Gold prices touched a record high on Monday after data showed that U.S. inflation moderated in February, boosting bets for the Federal Reserve‘s June interest rate cut.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold rose 1% at $2,255.39 per ounce, as of 0103 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of $2,256.09 per ounce earlier in the session.

* U.S. gold futures gained 1.7% to $2,275.70 per ounce.

* The dollar was down 0.1% against its rivals, making gold more appealing for other currency holders.

* The latest U.S. inflation data is “along the lines of what we would like to see,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday.

* U.S. prices moderated in February with the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rising 0.3% for February, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Friday. * Traders are pricing in a 69% probability that the Fed will begin cutting rates in June, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. Lower interest rates boost the opportunity cost of holding bullion. * China’s manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in six months in March, offering relief to policymakers even as a crisis in the property sector remains a drag on the economy and confidence.

* Israeli strikes killed 77 Palestinians in Gaza in the past 24 hours, health authorities said on Sunday.

* Russia’s Nornickel, the world’s largest palladium producer, said on Friday that some clients in the European Union had refused to buy products made with Russian metals.

* Spot silver rose 1% to $25.22 per ounce, platinum was up 0.6% to $913.85 and palladium gained 0.3% to $1018.22.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0145 US S&P manufacturing PMI March 0200 US Construction spending Feb. 0200 US ISM manufacturing March.