Gold prices dip, US dollar recovers

Gold prices slipped slightly in Asian trading on Tuesday, as the US dollar recovered and investors awaited further signals on interest rates from the Federal Reserve, as reported by Investing.com financial platform.

The yellow metal had gained some ground on Monday after Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, stoking concerns about a wider conflict in the Middle East.

This, along with speculation of potential US rate cuts due to weak economic data, initially boosted gold’s safe-haven appeal.

However, the dollar’s recovery and comments from Federal Reserve officials suggesting a cautious approach to rate cuts dampened gold’s momentum.

Spot gold dipped 0.1 per cent to $2,322.65 per ounce, while June gold futures remained steady at $2,330.95.

Israel’s strikes and the lack of progress in ceasefire talks with Hamas did briefly increase demand for gold as a safe haven asset. This helped gold recover above the $2,300 level, but the gains were short-lived.

Gold remains significantly below record highs reached in April, when rising tensions between Iran and Israel fueled a surge in safe-haven buying.

Other precious metals saw mixed results. Platinum futures edged up 0.5 per cent to $971.75 per ounce, while silver futures dipped 0.3 per cent to $27.538.

Industrial metal copper prices also displayed a mixed bag on Tuesday, but remained near two-year highs due to concerns about supply constraints arising from production cuts in China and sanctions on Russia.