Gold held steady early Tuesday after touching a four-week high in the prior session, with focus on a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that begins later in the day and on Britain’s June 23 vote on whether to leave the European Union.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold had dipped 0.1 percent to $1,282.41 an ounce by 0058 GMT. Bullion touched a session-peak of $1,287.0 on Monday, its highest since May 16.
* U.S. gold edged 0.2 percent lower to $1,285.60
* The Fed is set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, with market players waiting for clues about when the central bank might next look to move on interest rates.
* U.S. Treasuries are not as safe as investors assume, fund manager Michael Hasenstab said on Monday, as full employment and rising inflation put pressure on central bankers to raise rates.
* Britain’s “Out” campaign widened its lead over the “In” camp ahead of the country’s June 23 referendum, according to two opinion polls published by ICM on Monday. A vote by Britain to leave the 28-member EU, dubbed “Brexit,” could tip Europe back into recession, putting more pressure on the global economy.
* Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.27 percent to 896.30 tonnes on Monday, the highest since October 2013.
* Gold priced in sterling rose to its highest since September 2013 on Monday as the British pound fell to an 8-week low against the dollar.
* Kinross Gold Corp said on Monday a nearly three-week strike by unionised workers at its Tasiast mine in Mauritania ended on Saturday.
* South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has secured exclusive union rights for workers at platinum producer Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat), it said on Monday.
Source: Reuters
