* Federal Open Market Committee meet from April 30-May 1
* US non-farm payrolls report due on Friday
* Citi: strong demand in China supports higher gold price
floor
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) – Gold prices held steady on
Monday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve policy
meeting and U.S. non-farm payrolls data due this week for policy
clues.
Spot gold was unchanged at $2,338.08 per ounce by
0932 GMT, holding slightly above its 21-day moving average of
$2,336.
Gold fell by 2.2% last week amid fading expectations for
early U.S. interest rate cuts this year. Investors are now only
confident about a single cut this year, most likely in November,
according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.
“Gold bulls bought into last week’s weakness, protecting an
elevated long established at much lower levels,” said Ole
Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Before last week’s fall, five previous weeks of growth saw
gold hitting a record high of $2,431.29 on April 12, amid strong
purchases by central banks and demand from Chinese retail
investors amid a weaker yuan currency.
“A seasonal pullback in (Chinese) regional demand is
probable into mid-2024, but a structurally stronger consumption
trend via the retail and PBOC (People’s Bank of China) channel
is supportive of a higher gold price floor,” Citi said in a
note.
Its base case scenario sees gold hitting $3,000 over the
next 12-15 months.
Markets are focusing on the Fed’s policy meeting from April
30 to May 1 and the U.S. non-farm payroll data due on Friday.
The Fed is seen holding its benchmark interest rate steady at
5.25% to 5.5% at this meeting.
Spot silver rose 0.8% to $27.37 per ounce. The metal
fell by 5.2% last week before finding buy-side support at below
the $27.00 mark, said Frank Watson, market analyst, Kinesis
Money.
Spot platinum was up 1.3% to $927.70, while palladium
added 0.2% to $956.32.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; additional reporting by Sherin
Elizabeth Varghese and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing
by Vijay Kishore)
