Gold steadied into a tight trading range on Wednesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar, as the market toned down chances of a 100-basis-point rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week.
Spot gold was little changed at $1,711.99 per ounce by 0935 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,707.30.
While a dip in the dollar and Treasury yields are helping gold, it’s also “being negatively impacted by the current ‘risk on’ mood with very strong gains being seen in the equity markets,” independent analyst Ross Norman said.
World shares hit a three-week high as strong U.S. corporate earnings and the expected resumption of Russian gas supply to Europe allayed fears of a recession.
“This is manifesting itself through large redemptions in the ETF market as institutional investors scale back bullion positions,” Norman added.
Gold prices had a positive start to the week, after five straight weekly declines, as expectations of a full percentage point interest rate increase by the Fed started to fade. Higher rates dull appeal for non-yielding bullion.
But overall, gold has not been able to fully capitalize on its safe-haven status recently, despite recession fears. Prices have declined over $350 since early March due to the Fed’s aggressive monetary tightening, and the dollar’s recent rally.
“It does seem at the moment that the attractive position for gold traders is to position themselves for a recovery as $1,650 to $1,700 appears to be a good medium term floor,” said David Jones, chief market strategist at Capital.com.
Meanwhile, British inflation in June accelerated to a 40-year peak, bolstering chances of a half-percentage-point Bank of England rate hike next month. ECB policymakers are also considering a larger-than-expected 50 basis point hike on Thursday.