Singapore: Gold held overnight losses to trade below $1,300 an ounce on Thursday and looked likely to extend declines to a fourth day as optimism over US economic growth curbed safe-haven appetite for the metal.
Fundamentals
Spot gold was flat at $1,295.20 an ounce, after dropping 0.3 per cent in the previous session. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday reaffirmed it was in no rush to raise interest rates, even as it upgraded its assessment of the US economy and expressed some comfort that inflation was moving up toward its target.
After a two-day meeting, Fed policymakers took note of both faster economic growth and a decline in the unemployment rate, but expressed concern about remaining slack in the labor market. Data on Wednesday also showed that the US economy rebounded sharply in the second quarter as consumers stepped up spending and businesses restocked. Gross domestic product expanded at a 4 per cent annual rate after shrinking at a revised 2.1 per cent pace in the first quarter.
Investors will now turn their attention to US jobs data due on Friday. Geopolitical developments were also eyed, as Israeli shelling killed at least 15 Palestinians sheltering in an UN-run school and another 17 near a street market on Wednesday, with no ceasefire in sight after more than three weeks of fighting.
Russia fought back over new US and EU sanctions imposed over Ukraine even as G7 leaders warned of further steps, while Ukraine's government accused pro-Russian rebels of placing land mines near the site of a crashed Malaysian airliner to prevent a proper investigation.
