FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was flat at $1,723.28 an ounce, 0109 GMT, trading near a one-month low reached on Monday. It is down 2.5% so far in the month.
* US gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,734.40.
* The influential head of the New York Fed said on Tuesday that the US central bank will likely have to raise its key rate “slightly above” 3.5% and hold it until the end of 2023.
* Even though gold is considered a hedge against inflation, rate hikes increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion.
* U.S. job vacancies rose in July and data for the previous month was revised sharply upwards, pointing to continued strong demand for labor that is giving the Fed cover to maintain its aggressive rate hikes .
* The data also showed a bigger than expected rebound in US consumer confidence in August.
* A chorus of European Central Bank policymakers on Tuesday called for swift and decisive rate hikes to combat runaway inflation, ahead of next week’s policy meeting.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.44% to 976.26 tonnes on Tuesday from 980.61 tonnes on Monday.
* The dollar index was down 0.1% as benchmark 10-year yields fell off the two-month highs set in the previous session. [USD/] [US/]
* Spot silver fell 0.5% to $18.40 an ounce, platinum rose 0.2% to $849.11 and palladium was down 0.3% to $2,082.18.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0130 China NBS Manufacturing PMI Aug
0645 France GDP QQ Final Q2
0645 France CPI (EU Norm) Prelim YY August
0645 France Production price YY July
0755 Germany Change in unemployment, SA rate August
0900 EU HICP Flash YY August
0645 France HICP-X F&E Flash YY August
1200 India Quarterly GDP YY Q1