Gold prices up in anticipation of US inflation data

Gold prices eased today, June 2, helped by a weaker US dollar as investors await May US inflation data due to its weight of influence on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance.

Gold futures contracts for August delivery surged 0.35% to $1,855.30 an ounce at 11:13 am Makkah time, after hovering close to the lowest level in two months during trading yesterday. Spot prices also rose 0.34% to $1,852.64 per ounce.

Elsewhere, silver futures for July delivery saw a 0.73% leap to $22.07 an ounce. In addition, the spot price of palladium increased 0.87% to $2,104.37, with the spot price of platinum also up 0.80% to $1,003.50.

Meanwhile, the main dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, plunged by 0.28% to 102.23 points.

A report released by the Federal Reserve on June 1 showed that most of the US saw just “slight or modest” economic growth over the past two months, exhibiting a marked weakness in retail sales on higher inflation, along with a housing market headwind due to rising interest rates.

All eyes are on the release of the US non-farm private-sector jobs data later today, with expectations of creating an additional 295,000 new jobs last May, compared to 247,000 in the month before. Data on the US weekly jobless claims is also being anticipated by markets.