Gold holds steady as investors await Fed policy cues

NEW YORK: Gold prices held steady on Tuesday after touching a more than one-month low in the previous session, while investors geared up for the US Federal Reserve's policy decision for clues on the future path of monetary policy.

Spot gold was little changed at US$4,300.96 per ounce, as of 0157 GMT, after hitting its lowest point since Aug 7 on Monday.

US gold futures were down 0.3 per cent at US$4,341.10.

The US central bank will announce its policy decision at 1800 GMT on Wednesday following the end of a two-day meeting. Financial markets are betting heavily that Fed policymakers will lift their benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point to a 3.75 per cent-4.00 per cent range.

"How Fed Chair Kevin Warsh frames that hike will matter more than the hike itself for gold... If he casts it as the start of a meeting-by-meeting tightening cycle, that would be a hit to gold and to risk assets overall," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

"If instead he signals a preference for a more measured pace, that would prove somewhat supportive for risk sentiment and for gold."

Though seen as a hedge against inflation and geopolitical risks, gold often loses appeal when rates increase as they raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Data on Friday showed US consumer prices accelerated in August, while a key measure of underlying inflation posted its largest increase in four months.

On the geopolitical front, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched a fresh wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia and were digging into positions on the western coast of Yemen along the Red Sea. Oil prices rose on concerns over supply disruptions.

Meanwhile, US 10-year Treasury yields hit the key psychological level of 5 per cent on Monday for the first time since October 2023. The milestone is a threshold that analysts say could ripple through the US economy and threaten the bull market in stocks by denting the relative appeal of US equities.

Spot silver edged 0.1 per cent higher to US$63.28, platinum lost 0.1 per cent at US$1,757.46 and palladium fell 0.7 per cent to US$1,283.61.