Gold off two-month peak as traders seek inflation cues
GLD•Geopolitical tensions and other metals
On the geopolitical front, Iran and the U.S. remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree on a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source, who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June.
In other metals, spot silver XAG= lost about 0.9% to $64.73 per ounce, having climbed to its highest since June 22 in the previous session.
Platinum XPT= lost 1.5% at $1,729.93 and palladium XPD= fell 1.8% to $1,345.37.
Fed rate-hike bets ease after softer inflation data
Prices have risen over 8% so far this month, as traders scale back U.S. interest rate hike bets following recent softer economic data.
On monetary policy, Fed policymakers are likely to feel little fresh urgency to raise interest rates next month after data on Wednesday showed inflation cooled on a year-over-year basis for a second straight month.
The consumer price index rose 3.4% in the 12 months through July, down from 3.5% in June, in line with economists' expectations. Traders are now pricing in only a 40% chance of a hike at the September meeting, down from about 54% seen a week before, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. FEDWATCH/
Lower rates tend to support gold by lowering the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.
Gold eases after two-month high as traders watch PPI
Gold fell from a more than two-month high on Thursday, as traders paused after a rally fuelled by cooling U.S. inflation, with attention turning to an upcoming producer price report for clues on prospects of near-term Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Spot gold XAU= fell 0.8% to $4,374.03 per ounce by 0733 GMT, after jumping about 1% to its highest since June 5 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for December delivery fell 0.8% to $4,430.80.
