Gold inches higher as investors buy the dip ahead of US data

Gold prices edged higher on Thursday as investors took advantage of lower levels after the metal hit a one-month low in the previous session, while market participants now await U.S. Producer Price Index data for clearer economic direction.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.2% at $3,183.20 an ounce as of 0033 GMT. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.1% to $3,185.60.

* In the previous session, spot gold fell to its lowest level since April 10 after Washington and Beijing agreed to reduce tariffs drastically and adopted a 90-day pause, further de-escalating a potentially damaging trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

* The U.S. and China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on each other last month, sparking a trade war that heightened fears of a global recession. * Gold, traditionally seen as a hedge against economic and political uncertainties, thrives in a low-interest-rate environment.
* Federal Reserve policymakers are leaving interest rates where they are while they try to assess how U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade negotiations will affect prices and the economy. So far, the hard data is giving them little to go on.
* The spotlight is now on the U.S. PPI data, due later in the day, as markets look for further clues on the Fed’s policy path following softer-than-expected consumer data.
* Markets are expecting 50 basis points of interest rate cuts this year, starting from October.

* Spot silver eased 0.2% to $32.16 an ounce, platinum rose 0.8% to $984.05 and palladium gained 0.3% to $953.75. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0600 UK GDP Est 3M/3M, MM,YY March 0600 UK Services MM,YY March 0600 UK Manufacturing Output MM March 0600 UK GDP Prelim QQ, YY Q1 0645 France CPI (EU Norm) Final MM,YY April 0645 France CPI YY, MM NSA April 0900 EU GDP Flash Estimate QQ,YY Q1 1100 EU Reserve Assets Total April 1230 US Initial Jobless Clm 10 May, w/e 1230 US Philly Fed Business Indx May 1230 US PPI Machine Manuf’ing April 1315 US Retail Sales, Industrial Production MM April 1430 US EIA-Nat Gas Chg Bcf, Nat Gas-EIA Implied Flow 9 May.