Gold fell 1% on Tuesday as trading continued to be weak across major Asian markets due to the Chinese New Year holiday, while a strong dollar also weighed on prices.
basics
* Spot gold was down 0.9% at $4,947.98 an ounce by 0110 GMT, after falling 1% early in the session.
* U.S. gold futures for April delivery fell 1.6% to $4,966.80 an ounce.
*The US dollar index rose 0.2% against a basket of currencies, making greenback-priced bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies.
*Markets in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. US markets were closed on Monday for President’s Day.
*The market currently expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 25 basis points three times this year, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. Non-yielding bullion tends to do well in low interest rate environments.
* Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would be “indirectly” involved in talks between Iran and the US over its nuclear program scheduled for Tuesday in Geneva, adding that he believed Iran wanted a deal.
* Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister met with the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday ahead of talks between the United States and Tehran aimed at resolving the nuclear conflict, but there were few clear signs of compromise on either side and the threat of U.S. military action loomed.
* Spot silver fell 2.7% to $74.51 an ounce after earlier falling more than 3%. *Spot platinum fell 0.8% to $2,025.05 an ounce and palladium fell 1.5% to $1,698.10.
Data/Events (GMT) 0430 Japan Third India Act NSA December 0700 Germany HCIP Last YY January 0700 UK Claimants Unem Chng January 0700 UK ILO Unemployment Rate January 0700 UK HMRC Payroll Change January 0800 Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment, Status February
(Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandi)
