*
Gold rises for 4th straight session
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U.S. dollar down 0.2%
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Fed's Waller: Job on inflation 'not done,' might be a
'long
fight'
(Updates prices)
By Kavya Guduru
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose for a fourth straight
session on Thursday as the dollar faltered, although bullion's
outlook remained cloudy as several U.S. Federal Reserve
officials said more interest rate hikes were required to rein in
inflation.
Gold is sensitive to high interest rates, which increase
the opportunity cost of holding zero-yield bullion.
Spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,880.20 per ounce, as of
0747 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,893.20.
"Gold has entered a consolidation phase, which means it is
trading in narrow ranges and bouncing between technical levels,"
said Matt Simpson, a senior market analyst at City Index.
The dollar index eased 0.2%, making dollar-priced
gold a more attractive bet for overseas buyers. Fed officials said on Wednesday more rate hikes are in the
cards as the U.S. central bank pushes to cool inflation, with
Fed Governor Christopher Waller saying while wage growth has
slowed, the decline is "not enough" and "the Fed will need to
keep a tight stance of monetary policy for some time."
The comments were seen as hawkish by the markets, and kept a
lid on gold prices, although Fed Chair Powell's less
hawkish-than-expected comments on Tuesday helped gold remain
above last week's lows, said City Index's Simpson, adding there
may be "volatility on the lower side" in prices leading into the
inflation data due next week.
The U.S. Labor Department's consumer price report will be
keenly watched by investors for clues on the Fed's future
monetary policy stance.
Market participants are expecting the Fed's target rate to
peak at 5.130% in July, from a current range of 4.5% to 4.75%. Spot silver rose 0.6% to $22.44 per ounce, platinum added 1.2% to $981.45 and palladium gained 1.2% to
$1,666.43.
"Strong demand and constrained supply will be the story
for PGMs (platinum group metals) this year," analysts at ANZ
said in a note.
"Easing availability of chips will see the auto sector
performing well, boosting auto catalyst demand for PGMs."
(Reporting by Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
