World gold prices increased slightly with spot gold increasing by 5.7 USD to 2,337.4 USD/ounce. Gold futures last traded at 2,358.4 USD/ounce, up 13 USD compared to yesterday morning.
World yellow metal prices continued to conquer new records at the beginning of the week, boosted by central bank purchasing activities in Asia. Previously, spot gold price hit a new record of 2,372.5 USD/ounce.
A recently published report shows that the Central Bank of China added 160,000 ounces of gold to its reserves in March. Türkiye, India, Kazakhstan and some Eastern European countries also bought gold during the year. now.
Although the market is expecting the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to loosen monetary policy in June, according to TD Securities commodity strategist Bart Melek, if the upcoming data continues shows that the US economy is still strong, which may cause the Fed to not rush to cut interest rates. In that context, gold will not be able to maintain its increase. Central bank purchases and geopolitical tensions are other supportive factors for the precious metal.
According to CME Group data, traders are pricing in a 52% chance that the Fed will reduce the federal funds rate by a quarter point in June. However, the latest report shows that the US job market remains strong strongly has raised doubts about the Fed's ability to pivot policy.