Gold prices steady with spotlight on US inflation data
Focus on US CPI due on Wednesday, PPI on Thursday
Traders see 73% chance of 25-basis-point Fed rate cut this month
Palladium up over 3%
Updates as of 1754 GMT
By Anushree Ashish Mukherjee
Sept 9 (Reuters) -Gold prices held their ground on Monday, as investors awaited the U.S. inflation report for further clues on the potential size of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate cut.
Spot gold XAU= was little changed at $2,499.79 per ounce by 1:54 p.m. ET (1754 GMT).
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled 0.3% higher at $2,532.70.
Bullion "will probably be fairly consolidated, perhaps a little bit choppy in the established range in gold," said Peter A. Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals, who expects gold to hit all-time highs.
Bullion hit a record high of $2,531.60 on Aug. 20.
Traders now see a 73% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed's meeting next week, and a 27% chance of a 50 bp reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool. FEDWATCH
"The market seems to be reconciling that the Fed is probably more likely to do the smaller 25-basis-point cut and that's been my position all along," Grant added.
Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding the zero-yield bullion.
Last week, a report showed U.S. employment increased less than expected in August, but a drop in the jobless rate to 4.2% suggested the labour market was not falling off a cliff to warrant a half-point cut.
Investors will now watch out for August U.S. consumer price data on Wednesday and the producer price index on Thursday.
"If inflation numbers come much lower than expected and raise hopes for a 50-bp cut, then gold could hit all-time highs. But even if the consensus stays for a 25-bp cut, gold wouldn't see a dramatic loss in prices as the Fed is definitely cutting rates," Kinesis Money market analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa said.
The U.S. public's outlook for inflationary pressures was little changed last month, according to a report released on Monday by the New York Federal Reserve.
Spot silver XAG= rose 1.2% to $28.26 per ounce, platinum XPT= gained 2.3% to $942.45 and palladium XPD= was up more than 3% at $945.72.
Spot gold price in USD per oz https://reut.rs/3ZdFzFb
Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shreya Biswas
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