Gold prices stable ahead of as Fed meeting minutes

Gold bars

Gold prices held steady today, Jan. 8, with the US dollar's momentum and US debt yields calming ahead of the release of the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting, amid the descending investor sentiment towards monetary easing prospects.

February gold futures remained flat at $2,665.70 per ounce at 09:57 am Makkah time, after shedding 0.3% in early trading. Meanwhile, spot prices rose slightly by 0.11% to $2,652.50 apiece.

Elsewhere, March silver futures edged up by 0.16% to $30.73 an ounce, in tandem with a 0.51% hike in platinum spot prices to $955.65 an ounce.

This came as the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, shed 0.30% to 107.94 points, supporting the cheaper cost of buying the yellow metal with other currencies.

This came on the heels of a stable US 10-year bond yield at 4.677% after witnessing an uptrend during yesterday’s session. Further, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, held ground at 108.61 points.

A steady US dollar index and benchmark yield on US debt was driven by yesterday's data that scaled down the chances of the Fed continuing to cut interest rates in the near term, given the ongoing momentum of economic activity and the labor market.

In its latest report, the Institute for Supply Management said the US service sector activity continued to grow for the sixth consecutive month on the increased new orders.

Besides, the Bureau of Labor Statistics explained that job openings in the US soared to 8.1 million in November, from 7.8 million during the previous month.

All eyes are on today’s release of the minutes of the Fed’s December meeting, during which interest rates were cut by 25 basis points. However, policymakers dialed back their expectations for the pace of monetary easing in 2025.