Governor Christopher Waller advocated a rate cut in December due to a soft US labor market
by Yihui Xie and Preeti Soni
Gold steadied, after surging in the previous session due to increased confidence that the US will cut interest rates next month.
Bullion was trading near $4,135 an ounce, having gained nearly 2% in the previous session. That jump was fueled by comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who advocated a rate cut in December due to a soft US labor market. Gold tends to benefit from lower rates as it doesn’t pay interest.
A six-week US government shutdown, the longest in history, has delayed the release of key data, making remarks from central bankers one of the few clues for traders when predicting the Fed’s next move on interest rates. New York Fed President John Williams also said on Friday he sees room for a “near-term” rate reduction, and swaps traders are pricing in a roughly 75% chance of a quarter-point cut at the last meeting of the year.
The market has made some “sharp turns” recently in response to such comments, said Luca Bindelli, head of investment strategy at Banque Lombard Odier & Cie SA. “It’s just giving you the idea of how highly sensitive the market is to the Fed chatter recently,” he said.
Traders will be watching delayed economic data releases this week. Retail sales and producer-price numbers for September are due Tuesday and weekly jobless claims a day later. Any accompanying comment from Fed officials is likely to be among the last before its external communications blackout begins on Nov. 29.
Gold has consolidated after pulling back last month from a record peak above $4,380 an ounce, with some investors fearing that the rally had gone too far, too fast. Still, the metal has gained nearly 60% this year and is on track for its best annual performance since 1979, supported by elevated central-bank purchases and inflows to exchange-traded funds.
Gold was flat at $4,134.00 an ounce as of 4:01 p.m. Singapore time. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was largely unchanged. Silver, platinum and palladium were also trading steadily.
Copyright Bloomberg News
