Gold hits fresh nine-month highs

Gold prices rose in European trade for the second session, hitting nine-month highs as dollar weakened against a basket of major rivals. 

Dollar is hovering near eight-month lows on prospects the Federal Reserve will slow down its policy tightening and rate hikes from 0.5% to 0.25% in February. 

Gold Prices Today

Gold prices rose 0.6% to $1,942 an ounce, the highest since April 2022, with a session-low at $1,930, after rising 0.3% yesterday, the second profit in three dollars as dollar weakened. 

The Dollar

The dollar index fell 0.3% on Tuesday on track to test eight-month lows again against a basket of major rivals, in turn underpinning gold and other precious metals. 

Pricing for a 0.25% rate hike by the Federal Reserve in February stands at 100%, slowing it down from recent 0.5% rate hikes.

Expectations

Many analysts currently expect gold prices to build up an upward momentum as the Fed is forced to slow down its pace of policy tightening, in turn underpinning the precious metal. 

Actual Demand

India is expected to cut down its gold importing fees, in turn raising retail sales and making the metal cheaper ahead of its peak demand season.