Gold prices stable but head towards worst monthly performance since September 2021

Gold prices stabilized today, Jan. 31, but are set to record their worst monthly performance since September, coinciding with expectations of the Federal Reserve to start raising interest rates in March and geopolitical tensions.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Chairman, Rafael Bostik, said that the US central bank may raise interest rates by about 50 basis points, in case there is a need to adopt a more hawkish approach to curb inflation.

Gold futures contracts for April delivery settled at $1,787.40 per ounce at 10:30am Makkah time. Spot price for the yellow metal fell 0.26% to reach $1,786.84 per ounce.

Elsewhere, silver futures for March delivery rose 0.22% to reach $22.35 an ounce. Spot price for platinum delivery settled at $1,013.96, while palladium declined 0.14% to reach $2,375.54 per ounce.

The main dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.15% to reach 97.125 points.