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Gold slightly up, awaits interest rate decisions

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LONDON - Gold edged up on Thursday on a weaker dollar, with investors awaiting European and UK central bank announcements on interest rates and the return of the US market after a one-day holiday.

Published: Thu 5 Jul 2007, 4:58 PM

Updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 10:14 PM

  • By
  • (Reuters)

Gold was at $655.85/656.45 an ounce by 0956 GMT, against $654.40/655.20 in late European trade on Wednesday, when the US market was closed for the Independence Day holiday.

‘The key thing is that the dollar is very weak and the oil market is very strong ... There is some reluctance to buy at $659 level and equally nobody wants to go out and attack on the downside because there are favourable things in the background,’ said David Holmes, analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort.

Traders said expectations of an interest rate hike by the European Central Bank (ECB) later in the year were already factored into gold prices, but any hint of no changes could be a trigger for a stronger dollar and sell off in the metal.

‘But barring a surprise, I think gold sits here and quietly works its way higher,’ Holmes said.

The ECB is expected to toughen its inflationary warnings slightly at its policy meeting later in the day to prepare the ground for another interest rate increase, probably in September.

The euro rose against the dollar and hit a record high versus the low-yielding yen, while sterling stayed near the previous day’s 26-year peaks versus the dollar before a widely anticipated Bank of England interest rate rise to 5.75 percent.

‘Currently gold is still testing the top of its recent down-channel and will need a break of $665 to confirm a break out. However further dollar weakness as a result of rate hikes in the UK or Eurozone today could be the necessary catalyst,’ said James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.

Dealers also watched oil, which dipped below $73 a barrel after briefly marking a new 10-month high ahead of US data expected to show little change in crude and fuel stocks in the world’s top consumer.

In other metals, platinum rose to $1,286/1,290 an ounce from $1,282.50/1,286 in Europe, while silver was unchanged at $12.62/12.66 an ounce. Palladium was also flat at $364/369 an ounce.

‘Palladium prices are potentially exposed to downside risk in the forthcoming weeks as speculative long positions in the metal remain at elevated levels,’ Barclays Capital said.



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