* Dollar index hovers near 1-1/2-month high * Fed should not rush to lower interest rates - Fed's Waller * Spot gold falls 1.3% on Tuesday * Short-term fate of gold likely in hands of bond market - analyst By Harshit Verma Jan 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices extended losses on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened after hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official dampened expectations for a March interest rate cut, while traders awaited comments from more Fed speakers this week. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $2,023.49 per ounce, as of 0415 GMT, after stooping 1.3% in the previous session - its biggest single-day decline since Dec. 4, 2023. U.S. gold futures also fell 0.2% to $2,026.90. Flow of funds to the U.S. dollar have been a key driver impacting the gold price, said Michael Langford, chief investment officer at Scorpion Minerals Ltd, forecasting bullion to trade around $2,000/Oz in the near term. The dollar index rose 0.1%, making bullion more expensive for other currency holders. It shot up to a more than one-month high on Tuesday after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said that the U.S. central bank should not rush to lower interest rates until lower inflation can clearly be sustained. Waller's comments triggered a broad sell-off, pulling all three major U.S. stock indexes lower, while the benchmark U.S. Treasury yields logged their biggest daily move upwards in more than three months on Tuesday. With geopolitical tensions escalating, safe-haven flows could provide a floor for the gold price. However, "the short-term fate of the gold price is likely in the hands of the bond market," Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, wrote in a note. Traders are pricing in an about 65% chance of a rate cut by the U.S. central bank in March, down from about 75% probability seen on Tuesday morning, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Spot silver fell 0.4% to $22.81 per ounce. Platinum declined 0.3% to $892.37 and palladium slipped 0.2% to $934.44. As the sister metals approach price parity, the rate at which platinum is displacing palladium in the manufacture of autocatalysts is slowing, a trend which is likely to persist through this year. (Reporting by Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Real-time Estimate TTMZero 04:12:36 29/05/2024 pm IST | 5-day change | 1st Jan Change | ||
1.084 USD | -0.06% | -0.08% | -1.72% |
12:25pm | North American Morning Briefing : Stock Futures Struggle, Yields Spike on Rate Fears | DJ |
12:23pm | Futures fall as rate worries push bond yields higher | RE |
Stocks mentioned in the article
Price
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Change
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5d. change
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Capi.
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2,742 PTS | -0.97% | -0.66% | - | ||
2,344 USD | -0.66% | -3.20% | - | ||
1,572 PTS | -0.36% | -0.34% | - | ||
1,380 PTS | -0.41% | -3.26% | - | ||
962.7 USD | -1.76% | -6.27% | - | ||
31.96 USD | -0.26% | -0.12% | - | ||
1.275 USD | -0.09% | +0.35% | - | ||
1.085 USD | -0.05% | -0.08% | - | ||
0.7316 USD | -0.14% | -0.19% | - | ||
0.6633 USD | -0.22% | -0.44% | - | ||
0.6132 USD | -0.13% | +0.64% | - | ||
0.012 USD | -0.24% | 0.00% | - | ||
- PTS | -.--% | +1.02% | - | ||
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