Dubai: Gold prices edge down ahead of key US economic data

Gold prices edged down at the opening of the markets in Dubai on Tuesday.

According to Dubai Jewellery Group, the 24K was trading at Dh222.75 per gram on Tuesday morning as compared to last night’s close of Dh223.5 per gram.

The other variants of the precious metal also opened lower as 22K, 21K and 18K were trading at Dh206.25, Dh199.75 and Dh171.25 per gram, respectively, on Tuesday morning.

Globally, gold prices were trading at $1,839.2 per ounce at 10.10 am UAE time, down 0.14 per cent, as traders waited for more economic data to gauge the US Federal Reserve's rate-hike strategy.

Investors are now awaiting minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting due to be released on Wednesday.

Money markets expect the US central bank to raise benchmark rates above five per cent by May, with a peak in rates seen at 5.3 per cent in July.

“For an asset often touted as some ultimate ‘safe haven’ or ‘inflation hedge’, gold is having a difficult year. If the metal really is what so many of its adherents believe it to be, then these should be some of the best days it has seen for years. After all, inflation has re-awakened across the globe. And that after decades of such obliging docility that a whole trading generation won’t have encountered price rises of current magnitude in their lives,” said David Cottle, an analyst at dailyFX.com.

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