YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Spot gold was little changed at $1,133.01 an ounce by 0634 GMT, after a 0.5 percent drop on Monday, Reuters reports.
The metal had climbed to a near three-week high of $1,141.50 last week.
Asian shares rose on Tuesday and the dollar held steady as U.S. markets bounced back and the European Central Bank said it was prepared to ease monetary policy further, denting bullion’s appeal as a hedge.
Comments from Federal Reserve officials on Monday signaled that the U.S. central bank could still hike rates later this year, a move that could lower demand for non-interest-paying gold, after standing pat at last week’s policy meet.
“We are quite concerned that the Fed’s message has come through as relatively muddled this past week given that most governors have expressed a willingness to raise rates by year-end,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir is quoted by Reuters.
The uncertainty in various asset classes as investors move to the sidelines ahead of the Fed’s policy meets in October and December could help support gold prices to an extent, he said. –0–
