Gold prices were little changed on Thursday as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on interest rate cuts and awaited more U.S. economic data to gauge the path of monetary policy.
Price change
Spot gold was at $2,194.36 an ounce by 0305 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $2,193.90.
Ilya Spivak, head of global macroeconomics at Tasty Life, said the Fed has indicated it wants to cut interest rates and there are geopolitical risks still weighing on markets related to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, which supports gold.
Gold prices have been trading in a narrow range most of the time this month, and breaking the $2,225 per ounce level could push prices towards $2,300.
Gold hit a record high last week after the US Federal Reserve forecast three interest rate cuts this year despite recent high inflation readings.
Waller said on Wednesday that recent disappointing inflation data underscores the need to hold off on the targeted short-term interest rate cut.
Investors are now awaiting the US core PCE price index report due out on Friday to gauge the timing of interest rate cuts.
The personal consumption expenditures price index is expected to rise 0.3 percent in February, which would keep the annual pace at 2.8 percent. Investors are also awaiting the weekly U.S. jobless claims report due later Thursday.
Low interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding bullion.
As for other precious metals, silver in spot transactions reached $24.67 per ounce, platinum rose 0.7 percent to $900.35 per ounce, and palladium rose 1.3 percent to $996.19 per ounce.
