(Bloomberg) -- Gold steadied as investors await Thursday’s U.S. inflation report that may provide clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.
On Wednesday, the 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1.5% for the first time in a month, helped by a strong auction, while the rate on the U.S. long bond dropped to a level unseen since early March. This suggests that the Fed’s assurances that elevated inflation was probably temporary are gaining acceptance from investors.
Traders are also awaiting the European Central Bank decision Thursday, with policy makers having all the evidence they need to keep in place their ultra-loose monetary stimulus, thanks in part to their opposite numbers at the Fed.
Bullion has been largely treading water this week with investors focusing on inflation and speculating on the possibility that the Fed will start discussions about tapering asset purchases. Thursday’s U.S. Consumer Price Index report will be one of the last major economic indicators before the Fed’s next policy meeting June 15-16.
“The inflation data may be more important, and gold influenced by it more than usual, because of the Fed blackout ahead of the June FOMC meeting,” said James Steel, chief precious metals analyst at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. “A higher reading may trigger a rise in yields and weigh on gold, especially if it supports the U.S. dollar.”
Spot gold was little changed at $1,888.54 an ounce at 7:58 a.m. in Singapore, after dropping 0.2% on Wednesday. Prices climbed to $1,916.64 last week, the highest intraday level since Jan. 8. Silver and palladium both ticked higher, while platinum steadied. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat.
On the coronavirus front, the Group of Seven leaders is set to vow to deliver at least 1 billion extra doses of vaccines over the next year to help cover 80% of the world’s adult population, according to a draft communique seen by Bloomberg News.
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