Gold extends gains

Gold extended gains as investors waited for fresh indicators on the state of the global economy and the pace of US interest-rate hikes.

Bullion rose 2.2% last week — paring a fourth monthly decline — as the risk of a recession cooled expectations for how sharply the Federal Reserve will raise rates to tame inflation.

The US is due to release key employment data this week, with July jobless claims coming Thursday and nonfarm payrolls Friday.

The labour market remains “extremely tight,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week, referencing a near-record number of job openings and historically low unemployment. But the economy is losing momentum, highlighted by a report Thursday that showed a second-straight decline in gross domestic product.

Gold may benefit from a flight to safe havens, Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a note citing “extremely high inflation” and the likelihood of more rate hikes.

Yet there’s concern that demand for gold jewellery may fall amid weaker economic growth in some of the biggest markets, according to the World Gold Council, which singled out potentially weak consumption in China and India.

Spot gold climbed 0.2% to $1,769.18 an ounce as of 2 p.m. in London. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3% after sliding 0.8% last week. Silver and platinum gained, while palladium jumped 2.3% to $2,180.60 an ounce.