US Fed's Hawkish Stance Weighs On Gold Futures

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- Gold futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower today as sentiment for the safe-haven metal weakened following the United States (US) Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish stance on its interest rates.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes noted that Fed chair Jerome Powell said he would wait until the next quarter before cutting rates again.

“Gold prices fell as Powell’s cautious stance on rate cuts nudged yields higher, cooling recent gold-buying enthusiasm,” he told Bernama.

The spot-month February 2025 contract slid to US$2,889.00 per troy ounce from US$2,900.40 on Monday, while the March 2025 contract went down to US$2,896.10 per troy ounce from US$2,907.50 previously.  

The April 2025, May 2025 and June 2025 contracts were also lower at US$2,902.70 per troy ounce compared to Monday’s close of US$2,915.50.    

Trading volume declined to 27 lots from 100 lots on Monday, while open interest decreased to 81 contracts from 138 contracts previously.    

According to the London Bullion Market Association’s afternoon fix on Feb 11, the price of physical gold stood at US$2,895.40 per troy ounce. 

-- BERNAMA