Gold holds near record high on US rate cut optimism
Aug 19 (Reuters) -Gold prices held steady on Monday near a record high scaled in the previous session, as rising expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut next month lifted bullion's appeal.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= edged 0.2% lower to $2,501.19 per ounce by 0042 GMT. Prices had surged to an all-time high of $2,509.65 on Friday.
* U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.1% to $2,540.00.
* Data released on Friday showed that U.S. single-family homebuilding fell in July as higher mortgage rates and house prices kept prospective buyers on the sidelines, suggesting inflation was trending down.
* Last week, strong retail sales numbers and lower-than-expected unemployment claims, along with mild inflation data, restored confidence in the world's largest economy.
* Traders are confident that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut rates on Sept. 18 and the focus is now on the size of the reduction. They are pricing in a 75.5% chance of a 25 basis point cut and a 24.5% chance of a 50 bp reduction, according to CME FedWatch tool.
* A low interest rate environment tends to boost non-yielding bullion's appeal.
* Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said on Friday that the U.S. economy is not showing signs of overheating, so central bank officials should be wary of keeping restrictive policy in place longer than necessary.
* The market will now look out for minutes of the Fed's July policy meeting on Wednesday and Chair Jerome Powell's speech on the U.S. economic outlook this Friday at the Jackson Hole symposium, for further cues.
* Elsewhere, Israeli strikes killed 19 people in Gaza on Sunday, including six children, Palestinian health authorities said, ahead of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to try to push forward ceasefire talks.
* Spot silver XAG= fell 0.22% to $28.94 per ounce, platinum XPT= slipped 0.1% to $953.06 and palladium XPD= shed 0.8% to $943.46.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
UK House Price Rightmove MM August
UK House Price Rightmove YY August
Reporting by Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
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