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US Q1 GDP advance, weekly initial jobless claims due at
1230 GMT
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Expect more volatility in gold until Fed's decision -
analyst
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Dollar set for second day of losses
(Updates prices)
By Arundhati Sarkar
April 27 (Reuters) -
Gold rose on Thursday as a softer dollar rekindled some of the bullion's appeal amid U.S. economic concerns, while investors also braced for data to further gauge the health of the economy ahead of a crucial Federal Reserve policy decision.
Spot gold rose 0.6% to $2,002.09 per ounce by 0656 GMT. U.S. gold futures climbed 0.7% to $2,010.60. The
dollar index dipped 0.1%, set for a second session of decline, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.
A weaker dollar is adding an element of support to gold, as investors keep an eye on U.S. debt ceiling talks, said Edward Meir, a metals analyst at Marex. The next Fed meeting, that could offer some ideas on what to expect for the rest of the year in terms of rate hikes, is also being watched for, he said.
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill to
raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Meanwhile, First Republic Bank's market value
plunged again on Wednesday as investors waited to see if it
would be able to find buyers for assets and engineer a
turnaround without government support.
Given the "uneasy tone with the banking situation" and the
"debt ceiling uncertainties, gold will probably be more
sensitive to the upside than to the downside," Meir said.
Safe-haven gold scaled an over one-year peak at $2,048.71 in
mid-April, as the banking crisis unfolded and weak U.S. economic
readings bolstered bets for a pause in interest rate hikes.
Brian Lan, managing director at gold dealer GoldSilver
Central in Singapore said, a lot is hinged on the Fed's rate
decision, and gold could see more volatility due to the dollar.
Traders will now scan the U.S. quarterly GDP figures and
weekly jobless claims due at 1230 GMT.
Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.7% to $25.08 per
ounce, platinum added 0.4% to $1,094.34, and palladium climbed 0.7% to $1,523.32.
(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh Venkateshwaran, Varun H K and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
