Gold extends record run as US rate-cut bets lift appeal
[BENGALURU] Gold prices extended their record run on Wednesday (Sep 3), holding firm above the key US$3,500 level, driven by growing investor confidence that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September.
Spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at US$3,540.64 per ounce, as at 8.54 am.
US gold futures for December delivery gained 0.4 per cent to US$3,607.60.
US rate futures are pricing in a 92 per cent chance of a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut at the end of the two-day policy meeting on Sep 17, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said that its holdings rose 1.32 per cent to 990.56 tonnes on Tuesday, the highest since August 2022.
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US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington needed a “very serious” rate cut from the Fed.
Trump has criticised the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, for months for not lowering interest rates, and recently took aim at Powell over a costly renovation of the central bank’s Washington headquarters.
Investors are now looking forward to the US non-farm payrolls data, due on Friday, to determine the size of the Fed’s expected rate cut later this month.
The August non-farm payrolls are expected to have grown by 78,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll, versus 73,000 in July.
Heightening uncertainty and potential trade tensions in the market, Trump’s administration said that it will ask the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling on tariffs that a US appeals court found illegal last week.
Elsewhere, spot silver eased 0.2 per cent to US$40.81 per ounce, after hitting its highest since September 2011 in the previous session. Platinum gained 0.6 per cent to US$1,412.30 and palladium rose 1 per cent to US$1,145.69. REUTERS
