Gold prices dip with spotlight on U.S. inflation data

Gold prices edged lower on Monday, with cautious investors’ focus being on a key U.S. inflation reading as it could influence the size of the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate hike, Reuters reported.
Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,712.69 per ounce, as of 0341 GMT.
U.S. gold futures were down 0.3% at $1,723.20.
The U.S. Consumer Price Index data, due on Tuesday, is expected to show that August prices rose at an 8.1% pace over the year, compared with an 8.5% print for July. [USCPNY=ECI]
Fed officials on Friday ended their public comment period ahead of the central bank’s Sept. 20-21 policy meeting, with strong calls for another oversized rate increase to battle sky-high inflation.
The markets are largely expecting the Fed to raise rates by 75 basis points this month.
Higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding bullion and boosts the dollar, in which gold is priced.
The dollar index held close to a more than one-week low hit on Friday. [USD/]
Spot gold is biased to break a resistance at $1,720 and rise towards $1,729, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
Spot silver rose 0.3% to $18.83 per ounce, after touching a more than two-week high earlier.
Platinum dropped 0.8% to $873.68 and palladium fell 0.6% to $2,159.31.