Gold firm as Fed comments signal potential end to US rate hikes
Gold prices held near their highest levels in more than a week on Wednesday as comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials suggested that a recent surge in Treasury yields might reduce the need for more rate hikes, sending the dollar lower.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,860.97 per ounce by 0136 GMT, having hit its highest level since Sept.
29 on Tuesday. U.S.
gold futures held their ground at $1,874.50.
* The dollar dipped to a nearly two-week trough against a basket of currencies, tracking a slide in U.S. Treasury yields after dovish comments from several Fed officials.
* It's «possible» that the recent rise in yields on longer-term Treasuries means the Fed need not raise interest rates as much as otherwise, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday.
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said the U.S.
central bank need not raise borrowing costs any further, and sees no recession ahead.
* With U.S. inflation down from its peak, the risk of raising interest rates too little no longer far outweighs the risk of raising rates too much, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said.
* Higher rates raise the opportunity cost of holding gold, which is priced in dollars and does not yield any interest.
* Even as the U.S.
