Gold prices hold steady amid subdued dollar

BENGALURU: Gold prices were steady on Monday, with the dollar subdued following comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials that were cautious on global economic growth.

FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold was up about 0.1 percent at $1,222.14 per ounce at 0111 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were flat at $1,222.8 per ounce.


The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 96.48.

Asian shares inched cautiously higher amid conflicting signals on the chance of a truce in the Sino-U.S. trade dispute.

Fed policymakers on Friday signaled further interest rate increases ahead, even as they raised relatively muted concerns over a potential global slowdown that has markets betting heavily that the rate-hike cycle will soon peter out.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he may not impose more tariffs on Chinese goods after Beijing sent the United States a list of measures it was willing to take to resolve trade tensions, although he added it was unacceptable that some major items were omitted from the list.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday that toppling her would risk delaying Brexit and she would not let talk of a leadership challenge distract her from a critical week of negotiations with Brussels.

The European Central Bank can change its plans to start raising interest rates late next year if borrowing costs rise too far or inflation slows, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Friday.

Palladium is outgunning other precious metals, with a surge to record highs putting it within a whisker of parity with gold for the first time in 16 years.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.19 percent to 759.68 tonnes on Friday from 761.16 tonnes on Thursday.

Hedge funds and money managers boosted their net short position in gold by 33,378 contracts to 70,864 contracts in the week to Nov. 13, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. That was the highest net short position in five weeks.

Gold is trading at premium in India for the first time in more than two months on robust demand following a busy festival week, while a dip in global prices earlier this week helped bullion's appeal in some Asian hubs.