Gold Slips on Firm Dollar; Focus on Fresh Impetus

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):   Gold prices dipped on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar held firm, while investors awaited fresh insights on the U.S. Federal Reserve's stance on further interest rate reductions.

Spot gold fell 0.4% to $2,641.75 per ounce, as of 0551 GMT. Prices had hit a record high of $2,685.42 last month.

U.S. gold futures slid 0.3% to $2,658.50.

Resilience still seems to be the story as the yellow metal is not far from its recent record high despite strength in dollar, IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said.

The dollar hovered near a more than two-month peak it hit in the previous session, making bullion more expensive for other currency holders. The benchmark 10-year yield also ticked higher.

U.S. elections could increase demand for gold as a hedge against uncertainty, while expected Fed rate cuts, likely in 25-basis-points increments, may push prices to a record high, targeting $2,800 by the year-end, Yeap added.

 Fed Governor Christopher Waller called for "more caution" on rate cuts ahead. While, Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said more rate reductions are likely as the Fed's 2% inflation target looms in sight.

Markets see an 87% chance of a 25-basis-points cut in November. Lower interest rates raise the appeal of holding zero-yield bullion.

Focus will be on U.S. retail sales, industrial production data and weekly jobless claims, which are due later in the week.

Central banks remain keen buyers of gold to diversify their reserves, representatives of three central banks told the London Bullion Market Association's annual conference.

Spot silver shed 0.8% to $30.93 per ounce. Platinum fell 1.2% to $981.34 and palladium was down 1.5% to $1,014.00.

Elsewhere, China may raise an additional $850 billion from special treasury bonds over three years to stimulate a sagging economy, local media reported.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com