Gold Price News: Gold Edges Higher Ahead of US Economic Data

Gold prices were slightly higher on Tuesday, gaining modest ground from Monday’s dip to below $2,630 an ounce.

Prices moved in a narrow range of $2,634 to $2,655 an ounce on Tuesday, compared with around $2,642 an ounce in late deals on Monday. However, the day’s price action showed a modest increase from Monday’s intraday low of $2,623 an ounce.

Barring a slight uptick, the markets were broadly stable on Tuesday, looking ahead to the latest round of US economic figures on Wednesday.

Markets eye further interest rate cuts

The US JOLTs job openings figures came out on Tuesday showing open positions increased by 372,000 to 7.744 million in October, some way above market expectations of 7.48 million. Signs of a stronger labour market can indicate lower chances of interest rate cuts in the coming months. However, traders appear to have increased bets this week on the chances of a 25-basis point cut by the US Fed at its next meeting on December 18^th.

Upcoming events

Looking ahead, Wednesday will see a speech by ECB President Christine Lagarde for an update on the state of the European economy. This will be followed by a flurry of US economic data, including the S&P Global Composite and Services PMI figures for November, ISM Services PMIs for November and Factory Orders for October. These will be followed by a speech by US Fed Chair Jerome Powell after the European markets have closed. Beyond that, the markets will be watching out for Thursday’s weekly US initial jobless claims figures for the week ending November 30^th.