Gold holds steady as attention turns to US data

Gold held steady during early Asian hours on Wednesday, while market participants awaited U.S. economic data to determine the number of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the near term.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was flat at $2,660.36 per ounce by 0036 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% at $2,676.50.


* Focus is on the U.S. retail sales data for September, due Thursday. Industrial production figures and weekly jobless claims data are also due the same day.

* Traders see a 97.2% chance of a 25 basis point cut in November and a 2.8% probability of a pause by the Fed. Lower rates make non-yielding bullion more attractive.

* Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said the central bank remains on track for more rate cuts this year as long as data meets expectations.

* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he pencilled in just one more 25 bp rate reduction this year when he updated his projections for last month's U.S. central bank meeting.

* Elsewhere, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he told French President Emmanuel Macron that he would not agree to a ceasefire deal that failed to stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping.

* The price of gold is expected to rise to $2,941 a troy ounce over the next 12 months, delegates to the London Bullion Market Association's annual gathering predicted. A poll of delegates at the LBMA conference in Miami also predicted higher prices in a year's time for silver, platinum and palladium.

* Spot silver was flat at $31.45 per ounce. Platinum rose 0.4% at $987.60 and palladium eased 0.2% to $1,006.98.

* The Guangzhou Futures Exchange is expected to launch its first platinum and palladium futures contracts in China in the first quarter of 2025, head of Asia Pacific at the World Platinum Investment Council, said.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0600 UK Core CPI YY Sept

0600 UK CPI YY Sept

0600 UK CPI Services MM Sept

1230 US Import Prices YY Sept