Dubai: Gold prices dip on dollar strength, Fed comments

Dubai - A top US Federal Reserve official signalled the possibility of bringing forward policy tightening.

Gold prices inched lower on Thursday after the dollar firmed and remarks from a top US Federal Reserve official signalled the possibility of bringing forward policy tightening.

Spot gold fell 0.06 per cent to $1,810.70 per ounce by 9.15 am UAE time. In the UAE, 24K price fell from Dh219.5 per gram on Wednesday morning to Dh219.25 at the opening of the market on Thursday. The 24K variant closed at Dh221.75 per gram on Wednesday in the UAE, according to the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group data.

Among the other variants of the precious metal, 22K opened at Dh206.0 per gram, 21K at Dh196.75, and 18K at Dh168.5.

Bullion prices rose more than per cent on Wednesday after the ADP National Employment Report showed US private payrolls increased far less than expected in July.

US Federal Reserve vice-chairman Richard Clarida said the conditions for raising interest rates could be met by the end of 2022, and suggested the central bank could start cutting back on asset purchase programme later this year.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said gold’s inability to benefit from low US yields hints that the next direction for the yellow metal is certainly the south.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AVA Trade, said US jobs data could become a significant factor that the Federal Reserve could use to decide the timeline for the tapering of its asset purchase programme. The non-farm payroll data is forecasted to show a boost of 880,000 in July after surging by 850,000 in June.

• Dubai