Gold price holds above $4,300 as rate-hike bets fade
Bullion held Wednesday's 4% gain at a seven-week high as Hormuz talks and weak jobs data reduce September Fed hike odds.
Gold prices have remained above $4,300 an ounce following weaker-than-expected US hiring data and reduced concerns over Middle East tensions. The most-active Comex December contract traded at $4,301 an ounce as of 2:38 p.m. in New York, showing little change after Wednesday's 4% rally. Traders have scaled back expectations for a September interest-rate increase due to these factors.
Despite gold's strength, climbing about 25% over the past year, it is still 23% below its record near $5,600 set in late January. The outlook for gold remains mixed, as global demand fell to 942 tonnes in the second quarter, the lowest level since late 2021, with investment demand roughly halving and gold-backed ETFs shedding about 45 tonnes.
Central banks have partially offset this weakness by purchasing 289 tonnes, but Chinese institutional investors continue to increase allocations to gold-backed funds amid volatility in technology stocks.
Brief written by urgent.news from Mining.com's own syndicated text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
