Gold prices were mostly stable on Friday as investors digested the previous day’s U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, while the dollar hovered near a three-week high, weighing on the yellow metal.
basics
* Spot gold was stable at $5,187.39 an ounce at 0146 GMT. Gold bullion hit its highest price in more than three weeks on Tuesday.
* U.S. gold futures for April rose 0.2% to $5,204.10.
– The dollar remains steady near three-week highs, making dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
– The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, with the unemployment rate appearing to hold steady in February amid a stable labor market.
*Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman candidate Kevin Warsh’s path to an immediate interest rate cut in line with President Donald Trump’s expectations may be narrowing amid growing bullishness on the U.S. economy, CEOs’ growing confidence in the outlook and investors looking to make central bank policymakers more hawkish.
*According to CME’s FedWatch tool, the market currently expects the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points three times this year.
Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said gold prices were neutral in the range of $5,158 to $5,201 per ounce and this breakout could signal direction, adding that the bias could be towards the upside and gold is expected to reach levels of $5,243 or much higher.
* In Geneva on Thursday, the United States and Iran made progress in talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, but hours of talks ended with no sign of a breakthrough that could avert a potential attack by the United States amid a massive military buildup, Omani mediator said.
* Spot silver rose 0.6% to $88.81 an ounce after rising to a three-week high on Wednesday.
* Spot platinum rose 0.6% to $2,286.53 an ounce and palladium rose 0.5% to $1,794.13.
(Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aichi)
