© Reuters
By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia, but was set for its first weekly decline in three as central banks are expected to hike interest rates quicker than expected to curb rising inflation.
Gold futures edged up 0.16% to $1,864.45 by 11:50 PM ET (4:50 AM GMT). The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched up on Friday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is now contemplating earlier interest rate hikes as inflation continues to rise and the economic recovery from COVID-19 continues. Data from the previous week also indicated that inflation rose to its highest level in 30 years in October.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, one of the central bank’s dovish policymakers, said on Thursday that he was “open-minded” to tweak monetary policy in 2022 if inflation continues to remain high. An interest rate hike in 2022 could be appropriate if high inflation continues, Evans added, despite his expectations to the contrary.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s data showed that 268,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the U.S. throughout the week. Although close to pre-COVID levels, the number was higher than the 260,000 figure in forecasts prepared by Investing.com. A shortage of workers continues to be an obstacle to faster job growth.
In Asia Pacific, Japan is preparing to unveil a record $490 billion spending package that aims to reduce the economic impact from COVID-19.
China imported more gold from Switzerland in October, the highest level since June 2018, Swiss customs data showed. The data also showed that shipments of gold to India fell slightly from September.
In other precious metals, silver was up 0.4% but was poised for its first weekly fall in three. Platinum rose 0.95% and palladium gained 0.5%.
Source: Investing.com
