By Anushree Mukherjee and Brijesh Patel
(Reuters) – Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday due to a slightly firmer dollar, while investors held back from making big bets ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on appointments to the Federal Reserve.
Spot gold was down 0.1% at $3,376.69 per ounce, as of 0631 GMT, after hitting a near two-week high on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $3,432.40.
The dollar rebounded from a one-week low hit in the previous session following weak U.S. jobs data that raised rate-cut hopes in September, reducing gold’s appeal to holders of other currencies. [USD/]
“Gold has been caught between conflicting forces. The drop in yields has helped, but the U.S. dollar has managed to hold up well despite Friday’s selloff. That has produced the range we’re now seeing, as prices wait for conviction across the catalysts,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. [US/]
Trump on Tuesday said he would soon announce a short-term replacement for Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who announced her resignation on Friday, as well as his pick for the next Fed chair.
The CME FedWatch tool now puts the odds of a September cut at nearly 88%, after Friday’s weaker-than-expected employment growth data, following which Trump fired the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
On the trade front, Trump again threatened to raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, while New Delhi called his attack “unjustified” and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening the trade rift between the two countries.
Elsewhere, Perth Mint’s gold product sales fell 33% in July from the previous month, while silver sales slipped to a six-month low, the refiner said on Wednesday.
Spot silver was steady at $37.85 per ounce, platinum slipped 0.1% to $1,319.35 and palladium fell 0.6% to $1,168.17.
(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Rashmi Aich)
