March 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices on Thursday hit record peaks for the fifth time this month after the U.S. Federal Reserve anticipated three rate cuts in 2024 despite high inflation.
Spot gold was up 0.8% at $2,202.39 per ounce at 1318 GMT after hitting an all-time high of $2,222.39 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures rose 2% to $2,204.50.
"The rally was started by yesterday's Federal Reserve comments, basically confirming their intention to eventually start cutting U.S. interest rates," Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said.
"The mood in the gold futures market is very bullish. So your hedge funds or any other short-term traders or trend followers are positioned for higher prices, and I think this is the segment that is in the driving seat while the physical gold market is rather soft."
Despite high inflation readings, Fed chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is still likely to reduce interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point by the end of 2024, but that it also depends on further economic data.
Fed funds futures traders are pricing in a more than 70% probability the Fed will begin cutting rates in June, up from 60% before the rate decision, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, opens new tab.
"The geopolitical instability and expectations of dollar devaluing in the run up to the end of the year consistently is also being priced into the into the value of gold at the moment," said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.
The dollar slipped to a one-week low against its rivals, while benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields also dipped.
Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion and weigh on the dollar, making dollar-priced bullion more appealing for other currency holders.
Spot silver fell 1.3% to $25.28 per ounce, but hit its highest in over three months earlier in the session.
Platinum rose 1.2% to $918.35 and palladium gained 0.2% to $1,023.02.
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Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey and Barbara Lewis
