Investing.com — Asian trading on Tuesday as investors remain wary of metals markets ahead of a series of major central bank meetings this week, most notably the Federal Reserve's meeting There was little movement in the gold price.
This week, the yellow metal fell into a holding pattern between $2,600 and $2,700 as traders bought dollars ahead of interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of England.
By 11:19 pm ET (04:19 GMT), the February deadline rose 0.1% to $2,671.91 an ounce.
Fed plans barrage on interest rate decisions this week
The Fed is widely expected to cut rates by the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday, a scenario that the market appears to have largely priced in.
But the central bank's outlook for interest rates will be closely watched, with growing confidence that the Fed will signal a slower pace of rate cuts next year. Recent data showing persistent inflation and a strong labor market have raised concerns that the Fed has more room to gradually cut interest rates.
The prospect of relatively higher US interest rates has pushed the dollar higher in recent trading, while gold prices have moved further away from their record highs. High interest rates put pressure on gold and other metals by increasing the opportunity cost of investing in this sector.
In addition to the Fed, the Bank of Japan and BOE are also scheduled to decide on interest rates this week. The BOE is widely expected to cut interest rates further to support the slowing UK economy, but analysts are divided on whether the Bank of Japan will raise rates again after a historic monetary policy shift earlier this year. are.
Other precious metals were silent. It was steady at $941.35 per ounce but fell 0.3% to $30.955 per ounce.
China issue puts pressure on copper prices
Among industrial metals, copper prices continued to fall on Tuesday amid concerns about slowing economic growth in China, the largest importer.
The benchmark price on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.2% to $9,052.0 a tonne, while February fell 0.5% to $4.1745 a tonne.
The red metal fell on Monday after China's economy posted moderate economic data. The results show that the Chinese economy is still struggling despite the Chinese government's extensive support measures.
China's copper demand has remained resilient so far, but traders are concerned about a potential slowdown due to the worsening domestic situation.
