Investing.com– Gold prices regained some ground Monday, but sentiment on the yellow metal soured by growing expectations that the Federal Reserve may lean less dovish on monetary policy later this week.
rose 0.1% to $2,164.05 an ounce.
Fed meeting awaited for more cues on interest rates
The , which ends on Wednesday, is expected to culminate in an unchanged decision on interest rates, but an updated outlook for the rate path ahead and economy will garner the bulk of attention.
While a June rate cut continues to priced in as more likely than not, Goldman Sachs said it see a slower rate-cutting cycle following data showing recent economic strength and hitter-than-expected inflation.
ANZ analysts said in a recent note that gold prices could fall as low as $2,100 an ounce in the near-term. But they also upgraded their end-2024 price target for the yellow metal to $2,300 an ounce, stating that an eventual interest rate cut and deteriorating economic conditions were likely to support demand for the yellow metal this year.
Other precious metals retreated on Monday. fell 2.4% to $920.65 an ounce, while slid 0.5% to $25.26 an ounce.
Copper prices retreat after mixed Chinese data
on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.3% to $9,045 a ton on Monday, while rose 0.2% to $4.13 a pound.
While both instruments weakened, they remained in sight of 11-month highs hit last week, after media reports showed that China’s biggest copper smelters were planning production cuts. Such a scenario presents a supply shortage of refined copper, and was a key driver of copper’s rally.
But this rally somewhat cooled on Monday following mixed economic data from China. While rose more than expected in the January-February period, missed expectations, while hit a five-month high.
The mixed data raised concerns over weak economic growth in the world’s biggest copper importer, which could hurt its appetite for the red metal.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.)
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