(Updates prices)
* Wall St stocks jump after Biden's Super Tuesday surge
* Fed's Beige Book awaited
* GRAPHIC-2020 asset returns: http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
By Brijesh Patel
March 4 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Wednesday following
a surge in the previous session on the U.S. Federal Reserve's
surprise rate cut, as a firmer dollar and strong uptick in risk
sentiment limited bullion's upside.
Spot gold XAU= was flat at $1,639.43 per ounce by 01:46
p.m. EST (1846 GMT), while U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled 0.1%
lower at $1,643.
"We have a lot people focusing on U.S. equities right now,
also gold is digesting some of the move that it had yesterday
after the Fed rate cut," said Michael Matousek, head trader at
U.S. Global Investors.
Risk appetite among investors increased after a near sweep
for Joe Biden in the Super Tuesday Democratic primaries, which
helped boost U.S. stocks. .N
Gold notched its best performance since June 2016 on
Tuesday, rising as much as 3.7%, after the U.S. central bank cut
interest rates by 50 basis points in an emergency move to shield
the world's largest economy from the impact of the coronavirus.
This was the Fed's first cut outside of a scheduled meeting
since the 2008 financial crisis. "We have negative interest rates around the globe and
probably we can see more negative interest rates in the future
... there is uncertainty from the virus lurking around, so
investors have reasons to why gold should be in their
portfolio," Matousek added.
Lower U.S. interest rates put pressure on the dollar and
bond yields, increasing the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
Limiting gold's advance, the dollar index .DXY rose 0.4%
after falling to a two-month low in the previous session. USD/
Markets now await the Fed's Beige Book report, which will
offer the first snapshot from the central bank's business
contacts on how deeply the coronavirus is impacting the domestic
economy. "We assume that other central banks will follow the Fed's
example and will likewise loosen their monetary policy in the
near future," Commerzbank analysts wrote in a note.
"Gold prices are likely to climb further in the short term
on the back of new easing measures by various central banks."
Elsewhere, palladium XPD= rose 1.3% to $2,533.52 per
ounce, while platinum XPT= eased 0.2% to $873.17. Silver
XAG= edged 0.2% higher to $17.21 an ounce.
Auto industry platinum demand will rise for the first time
since 2016, but it will be too little to offset a decline in
investment buying, leaving the market in surplus, the World
Platinum Investment Council said. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
GRAPHIC-Fed boost for gold https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ihc3FV
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