Gold Rises, Approaches Two-Week High as Dollar Stabilizes

By Gina Lee

Gold prices saw an increase on Tuesday morning in Asia, reaching their highest level in two weeks. The precious metal rose by 0.17% to $1,850.94 as of 11:10 PM ET (3:10 AM GMT), following a peak of $1,865.29 on Monday, the highest since May 9.

Typically, gold prices move inversely to the dollar; however, the dollar strengthened on Tuesday after experiencing a fall to a one-month low in the previous session. Meanwhile, benchmark yields also declined.

Esther George, President of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, indicated on Monday that the U.S. central bank could increase its target interest rate to approximately 2% by August 2022, depending on supply and demand effects on inflation.

Investors are now looking ahead to the upcoming economic data due on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision on the same day, followed by another relevant update on Thursday.

Most Asia-Pacific shares were down on Tuesday, impacted by a drop in U.S. stock futures that tempered previous rallies in U.S. markets. The euro approached a one-month high, bolstered by increased expectations of an interest rate hike by the European Central Bank in July 2022.

The SPDR Gold Trust reported an increase in its holdings by 0.44% to 1,068.07 tons on Monday, up from 1,063.43 tons on Friday.

In other precious metals, silver dipped by 0.2%, while platinum decreased by 0.3% to $956.10, and palladium saw a slight increase of 0.2%.

Russian palladium mining and smelting company Nornickel announced on Monday that it has reduced its forecast for the global palladium market deficit in 2022 to 100,000 troy ounces. This adjustment is attributed to diminished demand from the automotive industry amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the sluggish recovery of the chip market from a shortage.