BENGALURU- Gold prices edged higher on Thursday, with traders focusing on the upcoming US economic data that may offer further insights into an expected reduction in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate next week.
Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $2,515.59 per ounce. US gold futures were steady at $2,543.40.
“Gold will likely break above $2,532. Only strong macroeconomic data, particularly from the US indicating significant growth or economic improvement, could stop its upward trend,” said Kelvin Wong, OANDA’s senior market analyst for Asia Pacific.
Headline PPI month-over-month is expected at 0.1 percent , while the year-over-year read is expected at 1.8 percent . This compares to prints of last month’s 0.1 percent and 2.2 percent , respectively.
Data on Wednesday showed that US consumer prices rose marginally in August, but underlying inflation showed some stickiness, which could discourage the Federal Reserve from delivering a half-point interest rate cut next week.
CPI data showed no major inflation spikes, which is supporting gold prices to hold above $2,500 and suggesting no immediate changes to Fed policy, Wong added.
