Gold stabilizes as investors await important US data

Gold prices stabilized at the end of Asian trading today, with investors awaiting important US economic data issued this week in search of indications on the path of US interest rates. By 0647 GMT,

Gold settled in spot transactions at $4,205.78 per ounce after falling by more than one percent in the last session. US gold futures for December delivery rose 0.4 percent to $4,237.20 an ounce.

Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said: “I think buyers are still buying gold given interest rate expectations, but they may be waiting for more indicators about a slowdown in the economy, which may give another signal to the Federal Reserve that an interest rate cut this month may be justified.”

Investors are focusing on data including the November employment report released by ADB Research today and the delayed September personal consumption expenditures index, the US central bank’s preferred measure of inflation, due on Friday.

Prices are largely stable, with few new catalysts and higher liquidity in European and US trading hours typically cooling some of the enthusiasm prevailing in the Asian session, Watter said. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows that markets expect 88 percent of interest rates to be cut next week, compared to 85 percent a week ago.

Recent US data indicated a slight slowdown in the economy, which strengthened the markets’ bets on a rate cut at the Reserve Board meeting on the ninth and tenth of this month.

Gold, which does not yield a yield, tends to rise when interest rates are low.

Silver fell 1 percent to $57.87 an ounce after rising to a record level of $58.94 earlier in the session. Platinum rose 0.8 percent to $1,651.15, while palladium fell 1 percent to $1,447.19.