On Monday, the price of gold stayed around $2,020 per ounce. This happened because many markets in the Asia Pacific area were closed for holidays. Countries with closed markets included China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
Investors were also waiting carefully for important US inflation information. This data might change what people think will happen with interest rates.
Even though the US shared updated figures on Friday, gold didn’t rise in value. These figures showed a smaller than expected increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the CPI went up by 0.2% from the previous month. This was a bit less than the first estimate of a 0.3% increase.
The core CPI, which doesn’t include food and energy prices, stayed the same at a 0.3% increase.
People in the markets think there’s a small chance the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in March. However, they believe a rate cut is more likely to happen in May.
Traders are also looking forward to more information this week. They are waiting for US retail sales data on Thursday and data on inflation at the producer level on Friday. Additionally, they are paying attention to speeches from at least seven Federal Reserve officials throughout the week.