US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fall
Trump seems to adopt wait-and-see posture toward Iran protests
Trump says he has no plan to fire Fed’s Powell despite investigation
Jan 15 – Gold prices declined on Thursday as weaker-than-expected U.S. weekly jobless claims data boosted the dollar, while U.S. President Donald Trump’s moderated tone on Iran further weighed on safe-haven demand for the metal. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $4,607.59 per ounce, as of 09:32 a.m. ET . Bullion hit a record $4,642.72 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery fell 0.5% to $4,612.50.
Data showed new applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pushing the dollar index to its highest level since December 2 and making bullion more expensive for overseas buyers.
“Recent data sort of keeps expectations towards a Fed on hold perhaps for the first half of the year, so the dollar index is at a multi-week high and that’s providing a bit of a headwind for gold at this point,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals. Trump said on Wednesday he has no plans to fire Jerome Powell despite a Justice Department criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve chair, but it was “too early” to say what he would ultimately do. The Federal Reserve is broadly expected to maintain interest rates at its January 27-28 meeting, despite Trump’s calls for cuts. Markets, however, anticipate at least two 25-basis-point rate reductions later in the year. Trump also said he had been told that killings in Iran’s crackdown on protests appeared to be easing and saw no immediate plan for large-scale executions, signaling a wait-and-see approach after earlier threats of intervention.
Grant said easing geopolitical tensions had slightly weighed on prices, but viewed gold’s move as corrective and expected traders to treat downticks as buying opportunities.
Safe-haven gold tends to do well during times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as in low-interest-rate environments.
Spot silver slid 3.6% to $89.29 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $93.57 earlier in the session.
Spot platinum receded 0.4% to $2,375.55 per ounce, while palladium lost 1.8% to $1,806.68 per ounce.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
