Gold prices little changed as US payrolls loom

Gold prices held steady on Thursday as investors braced for the U.S. non-farm payrolls data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

Spot gold was little changed at $2,036.99 per ounce as of 09:49 a.m. ET (1449 GMT), after hitting its lowest since Dec. 21 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $2,044.30 per ounce.

“The gold market bulls need a fresh new spark to jump start a price rally,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.

But, “if the jobs data comes in stronger, that will put some pressure on prices and probably dial back (market) expectations for Fed interest rate cuts,” Wyckoff added.

The U.S. non-farm payrolls report is due on Friday.

Traders are pricing in about a 62% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut from the Fed at its March 19-20 policy meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

The minutes of the Fed’s Dec. 12-13 meeting, released on Wednesday, revealed a growing conviction among officials that inflation was under control and a concern that the central bank’s “overly restrictive” monetary policy was posing threats to the economy.

“We expect with the Fed implementing several rate cuts this year, this should bring back financial investors via ETF and bar demand and lift the price of gold to $2,250 per ounce by the end of the year,” said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS.

Data showed that U.S. weekly jobless claims fell more than expected last week and U.S. private employers hired more workers than expected in December, pointing to persistent strength in the labor market.

Among other metals, spot silver fell 1.04% to $22.72 per ounce, while platinum was down at 1.3% to $958.18. Palladium fell 1.7% to $1,048.70 per ounce.