Gold, oil come off boil as Middle East risks, US rates in focus
Updates prices at 1055 GMT
By Iain Withers
LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) -Gold prices were just shy of a record peak and oil prices levelled off on Tuesday after a surge over the past week, as investors sought safety amid geopolitical risks and looked ahead to Nvidia earnings and U.S. inflation data later this week.
European stocks were broadly flat .STOXX, following a late rally in Japan's Nikkei index. Global stock indexes were little changed overall, with forecast-beating profit from the world's biggest listed miner BHP BHP.AX helping to prop up sentiment.
U.S. S&P 500 ESc1 and Nasdaq NQcv1 futures were both flat.
Gold XAU= hovered above $2,500 per ounce on expectations of imminent U.S. rate cuts and lingering concerns about the Middle East conflict, exacerbated by a major missile exchange between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday.
Middle East tensions - along with concerns about a potential shutdown of Libyan oil fields - had led to a surge in oil prices of more than 7% over the previous three sessions. However, that rally lost steam on Tuesday, with a slight dip in prices. O/R
Expectations for faster interest rate cuts in the United States have been a key driver of market moves, after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Friday the central bank was ready to start cutting rates.
"It would be a real shock not to get a (Fed) rate cut in September," said Guy Miller, chief market strategist at Zurich Insurance Group, adding an initial 25 basis point cut was most likely.
"It was also interesting that he didn't really push against the market expectations of 100 plus basis points of rate cuts between now and year-end," Miller added.
The dollar index was just off a one-year low at 100.83 =USD, while the euro and pound nudged towards multi-month highs versus the greenback. FRX/
A key measure of U.S. inflation due on Friday could further influence market perceptions of how quickly the Fed will act.
Investors were also on edge ahead of Nvidia's NVDA.O earnings report on Wednesday, where anything short of a stellar forecast from the chipmaker could jolt investor confidence in the AI-fuelled rally.
"I think Nvidia will take more importance" than the inflation data, said Michaël Nizard, head of multi-asset at investor Edmond de Rothschild.
"We know that the pace of inflation is going well. We don't know what could be the guidance for this big, big actor in artificial intelligence. This could be a bump for the market."
MSCI's all-country index of stocks <.MIWD00000PUS > was broadly unchanged on the day at 829.75.
Also keeping sentiment in check was the move by Canada, following the lead of the United States and European Union, to impose a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminium from China.
Oil prices took a breather, with Brent crude futures LCOc1 0.6% lower at $80.95 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 eased 0.7% to $76.89 a barrel.
World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Iain Withers in London, Additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe in London and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Christina Fincher and Mark Potter
To read Reuters Markets and Finance news, click on https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets For the state of play of Asian stock markets please click on: 0#.INDEXA
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