By Ishaan Arora
Bengaluru — Gold inched higher on Wednesday as investors prepared to parse Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s guidance on the day when the bank is expected to cut interest rates, while silver continued to push its record-breaking run above $60/oz.
Spot gold edged up 0.2% to $4,215.61/oz by 3.09am GMT. US gold futures for February delivery rose 0.2% to $4,244.70/oz.
Spot silver was up 0.6% at $61.06/oz after hitting a record high of $61.46 earlier in the session. It built on its Tuesday’s break above the $60 threshold, driven by depleted inventories and firm industrial demand.
“What we’re seeing on spot gold is not much change, it’s still range-bound, and people are just looking at the Fed interest rates tonight, and whether there’ll be further news [on the monetary policy path],” GoldSilver Central MD Brian Lan said.
The two-day Federal open market committee (FOMC) meeting concludes with a rate decision at 7pm GMT on Wednesday, followed by Powell’s press conference at 7.30pm GMT. Investors are currently pricing in an 88.6% chance of a 25-basis-point cut.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, a top contender for Fed chair, said on Tuesday there is “plenty of room” for more rate cuts but noted that rising inflation could shift that outlook.
Nonyielding assets such as gold tend to perform well in low-interest-rate environments.
“Many at this moment are interested in silver, since it is [finally] catching up with gold. The [gold-silver] ratio has come down sharply, and there is [a lot of] demand for silver across major markets, including India,” Lan said.
Sectors like solar energy, electric vehicles and their infrastructure, and data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) will drive industrial demand higher through 2030, the Silver Institute industry association said in a research report on Tuesday.
Silver prices have seen support from dwindling global inventories, high demand, expectations of the Fed easing interest rates, as well as its recent addition to the US critical minerals list.
Elsewhere, platinum lost 1.2% to $1,669.70, while palladium fell 0.2% to $1,503.26.
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