PRECIOUS-Gold steady as investors eye US-Iran talks, brace for inflation data
By Pablo Sinha
April 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Thursday as market players remained cautious about the direction of U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks, with a key U.S. inflation report due later in the day also in focus for interest rate clues.
Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $4,713.79 per ounce, as of 0311 GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for June delivery fell 0.8% to $4,736.50.
"It doesn't seem like gold is looking to do much at this moment. I think there's still a lot of speculation on what's going to happen after the ceasefire," said GoldSilver Central Managing Director Brian Lan.
Lan said he expected gold to consolidate between $4,607 and $4,860 in the near term.
On Wednesday, Israel pounded Lebanon with its heaviest strikes yet, killing hundreds of people and drawing a threat of retaliation from Iran.
Oil prices rose on Thursday on concerns that supply from the key Middle East producing region may not fully resume amid doubts that the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will hold. O/R
Spot gold has declined more than 10% since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, as higher energy prices fuelled inflation concerns and prompted markets to reassess interest rate expectations.
Non-yielding gold tends to do well in low-interest-rate environments.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's March 17 to 18 meeting showed that more policymakers felt rate hikes could be needed to counter inflation that continued to exceed the central bank's 2% target, particularly in light of the Iran war.
Investors are now waiting for key U.S. inflation indicators, including the Personal Consumption Expenditures data for February due later in the day, and March consumer price data due on Friday for clues on the Fed's policy path.
"Beyond near-term liquidity needs, we expect gold to continue to rebuild its gains in the coming months amid heightened geopolitical risk," Standard Chartered said in a note on Wednesday.
Among other metals, spot silver XAG= fell 0.5% to $73.71 per ounce, platinum XPT= lost 0.6% to $2,017.26 and palladium XPD= slid 0.4% to $1,549.18.
