The spot gold price stayed supported during Asian trading hours on Thursday as the US dollar continued to trade around two-week lows.
Spot gold was last at $1,346.60-1,347.00 per ounce, up $2.35 from Wednesday’s close. Trading ranged at $1,342.20-1,348 so far.
After slipping to as low as 94.69 on Wednesday – the lowest since August 26 –the US dollar index has recovered slightly but continues to hover around a two-week low. It was last at 94.87 on Thursday, down 0.07 percent.
The US dollar has come under pressure following a string of disappointing US data which lowered expectations of a September rate hike.
In US data released on Wednesday, the Jolts job openings for July rose four percent month-on-month to 5.87 million, which was also better than consensus of 5.58 million.
The Jolts job openings was a “pleasant surprise”, National Australia Bank (NAB) said on Thursday morning. But it noted that the figures are for July and at best, they only partially offset the weaker August numbers seen in ISM reports.
On Tuesday, the US ISM non-manufacturing PMI had undershot at 51.4 against a forecast 55.4, as did the IBD/TIPP economic optimism index at 46.7 – a reading of 48.6 had been anticipated.
The Fed Beige book out overnight showed the US economy grew at a modest pace in July and August, but there was no evidence of major upward pressure on wages and prices, NAB said.
“So on this account, there is no need for the Fed to hike in September,” it added.
Data due later today includes US unemployment claims and crude oil inventories, while the European Central Bank’s (ECB) meeting will take place later and expectations are for key interest rates to remain steady.
In other data, Chinese August US dollar-denominated trade balance came in at $52.1 billion, below expectations of $57.9 billion.
In equities, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.08 percent to 3,089.35 recently on Thursday.
In commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price rose 0.39 percent to $48.72 per barrel, and the Texas light sweet crude spot price increased 0.43 percent to $46.29 so far on Thursday.
In other precious metals, silver was last at $19.87/19.89, up $0.095. Platinum was recently at $1,089/1,095, up $5, and palladium gained $9 to $691/699 recently on Thursday.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for December delivery was last unchanged at 290.15 yuan per gram, and the December silver was flat at 4,406 yuan per kilogram.
The post Gold supported as US dollar stays under pressure appeared first on The Bullion Desk.
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Source: Bullion Desk News
