GOLD prices were little changed in early Asian trade on Thursday (Dec 8), after bullion jumped more than 1 per cent in the previous session following a retreat in the US dollar and yields.
Spot gold held its ground at US$1,786.92 per ounce, as of 0009 GMT. US gold futures were up 0.1 per cent to$1,799.10.
Gold on Wednesday was supported by a pullback in the dollar and US bond yields as investors anticipate slower rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve at its policy meeting next week.
Market participants mostly expect a 50-basis point rate hike at the Fed’s final meeting of 2022 scheduled on Dec 13-14.
Higher interest rates tend to increase the opportunity cost of holding gold as it yields no interest.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.2 per cent to 908.09 tonnes on Wednesday.
Top bullion consumer China held 63.67 million fine troy ounces of gold at the end of November, up from 62.64 million ounces at end-October.
Meanwhile, China’s exports and imports shrank at their steepest pace in at least 2-1/2 years in November, as feeble global and domestic demand, Covid-led production disruptions and a property slump at home piled pressure on the world’s second-biggest economy.
The Perth Mint’s sales of gold products in November dropped nearly 38 per cent from the previous month, while silver sales fell to its lowest in more than a year, the refiner said in a blog post on Wednesday.
Spot silver inched 0.2 per cent lower to US$22.68, platinum rose 0.2 per cent to US$1,004.62 and palladium gained 0.1 per cent to US$1,846.91.
