Gold prices traded marginally higher on Tuesday as traders set their sights on U.S. inflation and labor-market data due later this week.
Price action
-
Gold futures for December delivery
GC00,
+0.49% GCZ23,
+0.49%
gained 40 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,947 per ounce on Comex. -
Silver futures for September delivery
SI00,
+1.39% SIU23,
+1.39%
were marginally higher at $24.26 per ounce. -
October platinum
PL00,
+1.44% PLV23,
+1.44%
gained $9.50, or 1%, to $981 per ounce, while Palladium for December delivery
PA00,
-1.89% PAZ23,
-1.10%
fell by $5.40, or 0.4%, to $1,256.50 per ounce. -
Copper for December delivery
HG00,
+0.51% HGZ23,
+0.51%
gained 1 cent, or 0.4%, to $3.81 per pound.
Market drivers
Gold prices have benefited over the past week as Treasury yields have retreated from their highest levels in more than 15 years. The 10-year note yield
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
touched its highest level since 2007 last week, according to FactSet data, when it traded just shy of 4.37%. It was trading at 4.220% early Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar is holding steady just shy of its highest levels since March. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY
was trading at 104.10 early Tuesday, FactSet data show.
Commodity analysts attributed the yellow metal’s recent strength to last week’s commentary from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who sounded non-committal about the prospect of more interest-rate raises. Given the lack of clarity about where interest rates are headed, any short-term moves in the yellow metal’s price could be quickly reversed once investors have a better idea of what’s to come, a team at Commerzbank said.
“Against this backdrop, any major fluctuations in the gold price, in either direction, seem unlikely and indeed unjustified for the time being,” the team said.
Others are more optimistic. On Monday, a strategist at Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients that she’s looking for opportunities to buy the yellow metal.
Later in the week, investors will receive the next batch of significant U.S. economic data that could influence the price of the yellow metal. On Thursday, investors will receive the July personal consumption expenditure index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, followed by the U.S. Labor Department’s August employment report on Friday.
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