FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,839.39 per ounce, as of 0046 GMT. U.S. gold futures also eased by 0.1% to $1,841.80.
* The Federal Reserve is on track for half point interest rate increases in June, July, and last week’s jobs report boosted expectations of continued tightening by the U.S. central bank.
* Friday’s CPI report is now being awaited for further clues on the pace of U.S. rate increases.
* The European Central Bank also meets later this week as investors ramp up their bets on interest rate hikes this year.
* Higher rates dent gold’s appeal as they increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
* Japan’s real wages posted the largest drop in four months in April, the government said on Tuesday, as a surge in inflation eclipsed a rise in nominal wages.
* India’s gold imports in May jumped 677% from a year ago to the highest level in a year, as correction in prices just before a key festival and wedding season boosted retail jewellery purchases, a government source said on Monday.
* State revenue from gold mining companies in Mali rose 23% year-on-year in 2021 to 564.5 billion CFA francs ($931 million), a mines ministry official said on Monday.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.3% to 1,063.06 tonnes on Monday. [GOL/ETF]
* In other metals, platinum fell 0.2% to $1,015.98 an ounce and palladium was steady at $2,001.98. Silver was down 0.1% at $22.03 per ounce.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 Germany Industrial Orders MM April
0830 UK Reserve Assets Total May
1230 US International Trade April