BENGALURU: Gold edged lower on Thursday, but was trading close to a two-week peak scaled in the last session as dovish US and European central banks fanned concerns on economic slowdown and kept global bond yields and the dollar under pressure.
Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $1,304.99 per ounce as of 0733 GMT, after touching its highest since March 28 at $1,310.50 in the previous session.
US gold futures were down about 0.4 per cent at $1,309.30 an ounce.
The dollar index was trading near a two-week low touched in the previous session after the US Federal Reserve’s minutes cemented the central bank’s dovish policy stance amid risks of global economic slowdown.
“Policymakers are continuing to hint that they are not in a rush to hike interest rates, particularly the US Fed, and the ECB also did not change their monetary policy,” IG Markets analyst Kyle Rodda said.
“That has caused a decrease in bond yields across the globe and made gold much more attractive.” US Treasury yields fell on Wednesday as tepid US inflation data reinforced the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady.
The European bond market also fell after the European Central Bank (ECB) maintained its dovish policy stance and flagged downside risks to the euro zone economy. — Reuters
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