Gold jumps on dollar dip as market awaits key US inflation data

Oct 11 (Reuters) – Gold bounced off a one-week low on Tuesday, lifted by a softer dollar, while investors braced for a key US inflation report that is expected to influence the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance.

Spot gold rose 0.6% to USD 1,677.70 per ounce at 1418 EDT (1818 GMT), after rising about 1% earlier in the session. US gold futures settled 0.6% higher at USD 1,686.00.

The dollar was down about 0.3% against its rivals, making greenback-priced bullion slightly less expensive for overseas buyers.

Benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields gave up gains from earlier in the day, helping demand for zero-yield bullion.

However, “a lot of the day-to-day price action is pretty much noise at this point,” as the market is still very much waiting to see how the inflation data and Fed minutes play out heading into the next Fed meeting, said Ryan McKay, commodity strategist at TD Securities.

Thursday’s US inflation reading is expected to remain stubbornly high and cement the Fed’s hawkish rhetoric on monetary policy.

“Gold has actually held up quite strong against the rise in real interest rates, so, I think there is some catch up to the downside there,” McKay added.

Rising US interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding gold, which bears no interest.

Looking ahead, “it’s hard to create a bullish case for gold”, considering peak inflation may be yet to come, with rate hikes likely to continue until such a scenario, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Silver fell 1.2% to USD 19.42 per ounce, platinum firmed 0.2% to USD 900.35, and palladium dropped 1.1% to USD 2,148.08.

Citi analysts said in a note they were relatively bullish on palladium, citing resilient demand on increasing automotive chip supply availability, automotive supply chain re-stocking and rising Russian supply risks.

(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shailesh Kuber)