PRECIOUS-Gold gains more than 1% on dip‑buying; markets await US inflation data

‌Gold rose ​more than 1% on Friday, rebounding from Thursday's near one-week low, as bargain-hunters stepped in, with investors keeping an eye on key U.S. inflation data due later in ‌the day for cues on the Federal Reserve's policy outlook.

‌Gold rose ​more than 1% on Friday, rebounding from Thursday's near one-week low, as bargain-hunters stepped in, with investors keeping an eye on key U.S. inflation data due later in ‌the day for cues on the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. Spot gold was up 1% at $4,969.85 per ounce as of 1000 GMT, and has gained 0.2% so far this week. U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose 0.9% to $4,990.30 per ounce.

"Dip-buying by ‌market participants in Asia, where demand for gold has been particularly strong, appears to be driving the rebound in gold ‌prices," said Hamad Hussain, a climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics. The Chinese gold market saw robust demand as it heads into the Lunar New Year holiday, while gold flipped to a discount in India this week for the first time in a month on subdued demand as ⁠volatile prices ​deterred buying. Gold dropped about ⁠3% on Thursday, falling to its lowest in nearly a week, as strong U.S. jobs data dampened hopes of near-term Fed rate cuts. A break ⁠below $5,000 per ounce deepened losses, as selling pressure intensified. Data on Wednesday showed the United States added 130,000 jobs in January, compared to ​analysts' estimates of 70,000. However, "the moves seem to be irrespective of what the market fundamentals are, not because of ⁠them, and the market fundamentals across the (precious metals) complex remain positive," said independent analyst Ross Norman.

Analysts at ANZ on Friday raised their gold forecasts ⁠to $5,800/oz ​for the second quarter, up from $5,400, noting that the metal remains an insurance asset against a plethora of uncertainties. Investors are now looking out for the Consumer Price Index data, due later on Friday, to gauge the health of the ⁠labor market and the prospects of further rate cuts this year. Non-yielding bullion tends to do well in low-interest-rate environments.

Spot silver ⁠climbed 3.9% to $78.11 per ⁠ounce, rebounding from an 11% drop in the previous session. It was on track for a weekly gain of 0.8%. Spot platinum rose 1.4% to $2,027.60 per ounce and palladium was up 1.7% ‌at $1,644.24. Both metals ‌were set to notch weekly losses.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)