Gold flat as investors await US economic data

Gold stabilized today, Thursday, as investors await a group of US economic data that may affect the course of monetary policy of the Federal Reserve (US Central Bank), after publishing the minutes of its meeting in June, which supported expectations of raising interest rates for a longer period.

And by 0241 GMT, gold settled in spot transactions at $ 1918.59 an ounce, while US gold futures fell 0.1 percent to $ 1925.00.

According to Reuters, gold is highly vulnerable to rising US interest rates, because their rise increases the opportunity cost of owning the non-returnable metal.

The minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting showed that it agreed to keep interest rates steady at the June meeting to buy time and assess whether more rate hikes are needed.

Dealers are also closely watching developments regarding Chinese restrictions on the export of two minerals critical to the semiconductor industry ahead of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing on Thursday.

“Further escalation on that front after the meeting could put market participants on the defensive,” said Ip Gong Rong, market strategist at IG.

As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 0.1 percent, to $ 23.1292 an ounce, while palladium fell 0.9 percent to $ 1,248.44, and platinum settled at $ 915.77.