Gold prices edged slightly lower on Tuesday, coming under moderate downward pressure from an easing in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Prices eased as low as $2,311 an ounce before regaining some of the losses to trade at around $2,317 an ounce by late afternoon. That compared with around $2,327 an ounce in late trades on Monday.
Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday said it has accepted a proposal from Egypt and Qatar which involved a weeks-long halt to fighting in Gaza and the release of several dozen hostages. However, the latest proposal did not appear to meet Israel’s conditions for halting its military operations in Gaza.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has injected a risk premium into gold prices, and any signs of a potential end to hostilities would be taken as a bearish signal for safe haven gold.
Gold prices did rebound slightly later on Tuesday, taking support from comments by US Fed officials overnight that kept alive hopes that the central bank may yet cut interest rates this year. Recent market expectations for the first rate cut have been pushed back to September, compared with an earlier target of June.
US 10-year treasury yields also edged lower on Tuesday, providing a supportive factor for gold prices.
In general though, gold prices have been range bound since the last week of April, showing little convincing momentum in either direction in recent days.
Looking ahead, Wednesday will see a flurry of speeches by US Fed officials, which will be closely watched for any signs of monetary policy changes. Then on Thursday, eyes will be on the US weekly initial jobless claims figures, for a pulse-check on the health of the US economy.
Frank’s experience covering the commodities markets spans 22 years, with a particular specialism in metals, carbon and energy markets. He has worked as a senior editor for S&P Global Commodity Insights (formerly Platts) and before this, at ICIS-LOR, a part of Reed Business Information (Reed Elsevier), where he covered the petrochemicals markets from 2003 to 2005.
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