Gold pinned below $2,000 as Fed jitters offset safe haven appeal

Investing.com -- Gold prices moved little in early Asian trade on Tuesday, hovering well below key levels as anticipation of a likely interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve supported the dollar and dented demand for the yellow metal.

The Fed is widely expected to hike interest rates by 25 basis points at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Wednesday. But markets are uncertain over whether the central bank will signal a pause in its rate hike cycle.

This kept demand for gold limited, given that rising interest rates push up the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets. The dollar rose on Monday, as did U.S. Treasury yields.

Spot gold was flat at $1,982.31 an ounce, while gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,991.15 an ounce by 20:25 ET (00:25 GMT). 

Fears of the Fed, coupled with a stronger dollar and yields saw limited safe haven demand for gold, even as concerns over a U.S. banking crisis were renewed by the emergency takeover of First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) by JPMorgan Chase&Co (NYSE:JPM). 

First Republic became the latest domino to fall in the largest string of U.S. banking failures since the 2008 crisis, as fears of a wider banking collapse saw a mass exodus of deposits from smaller lenders. 

The collapse of lenders such as Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year had triggered sharp inflows into gold on increased safe haven demand. But fears of the Fed appeared to have prevented such a scenario this week.

Markets were also watching for a potential U.S. debt default, especially as a deadline for the government to raise the debt limit approaches. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of a potential default by as early as June 1.

Gold has struggled to hold the $2,000 an ounce level for nearly three weeks, as the yellow metal consolidated gains after surging to near-record highs earlier in April. The future path of the yellow metal is likely to be determined by the Fed’s stance on interest rates, as well as any new developments in the banking crisis.

Other precious metals moved little on Tuesday, with platinum and silver futures adding about 0.1% each.

Among industrial metals, copper prices were flat, but were likely set for more pressure amid increasing signs of a manufacturing slowdown across the globe.

Copper futures were flat at $3.9380 a pound. An unexpected decline in Chinese manufacturing activity ramped up concerns over slowing demand in the world’s largest copper importer.