By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Tuesday morning in Asia but remained above the $1,800 mark. The dollar weakened and investors increased bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will delay beginning asset tapering.
Gold futures were up 0.52% to $1,824.25 by 12:19 AM ET (4:19 AM GMT), after hitting a two-and-a-half-month high during the previous week over a disappointing U.S. jobs report.
The dollar, which usually moves inversely to gold, edged down on Tuesday.
On the central bank front, the European Central Bank handing down its policy decision on Thursday. The Reserve Bank of Australia will hand down its policy decision later in the day, with the Bank of Canada following a day later.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to delay beginning asset tapering after the jobs report released last Friday showed weaker-than-expected non-farm payrolls. Investors will now see whether any of the central banks handing down policy decisions throughout the week will begin tapering their assets.
On the data front, August’s Chinese trade data, released earlier in the day, was better than expected. Exports grew 25.6% year-on-year and imports grew 33.1% year-on-year, while the trade balance was at $58.34 billion.
However, Japan’s household spending grew less than expected in July, contracting 0.9% month-on-month while expanding 0.7% year-on-year.
In India, gold imports in August nearly doubled year-on-year thanks to strong demand and as weaker prices prompted jewelers to increase purchases for the upcoming festive season, according to a government source.
In other precious metals, silver firmed 0.4% to $24.76 per ounce and palladium was flat at $2,410.52, while platinum inched up 0.1%.