Gold prices flat ahead of Fed’s preferred inflation gauge

Gold bars

Gold prices remained unchanged on Friday, but they are on track to achieve quarterly gains for the third consecutive quarter as investors await the monthly reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

Prices of gold for August delivery stabilized at $2,337.30 per ounce at 10:07 am KSA time.

Spot gold was also unchanged at $2,327.43 per ounce, while the most actively traded silver contracts for September delivery increased by 0.94% to $29.53. Spot platinum rose by 0.90% to $999.47 per ounce.

The prices of the precious metal have risen by about 4% over the second quarter of the year and are set to achieve gains for the third consecutive quarter by the end of June.

This is due to improved prospects for monetary easing in the US and China's bolstering of its gold reserves, according to Ilya Spivak, Head of Global Macro at Tasty Live, in a statement to Reuters.

Investors are closely watching today's reading of the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index in the US — the Fed's preferred inflation indicator — with expectations for a 0.1% monthly rise in May compared to a 0.2% gain in April.