Gold prices were slightly higher in range-bound trade on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to a slew of central bank meetings next week for clues on the pace of rate hikes. <\/p>\n
Mounting concerns of a global recession and weak trade data from China weighed on riskier assets, helping offer some support for bullion. <\/p>\n
Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,773.53 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $1,785.45.<\/p>\n
Markets eye central bank decisions, with the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve all due to hold their monetary policy meetings next week.<\/p>\n
Interest rates will go up again, though they are now “very near” their neutral level, ECB policymaker Constantinos Herodotou said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Fed is largely expected to hike interest rates by 50 basis points at its FOMC meeting next week, a step down from its four straight 75-basis-point interest rate hikes. <\/p>\n
Another 50-basis-point increase is expected at its February FOMC meeting, according to the CME’s FedWatch Tool.<\/p>\n
The U.S. economic calendar remains relatively quiet today, with revised data on labor productivity and costs in the third quarter due.<\/p>\n
Data released earlier today showed that China’s exports and imports both shrank to their weakest level since mid-2020 in November. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, official data showed that German industrial production dropped 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in October, slower than the expected fall of 0.6 percent.<\/p>\n
Separately, U.K. housing market continued to slow in November as house prices decreased for a third month in a row and at the steepest rate in over 14 years, survey results from the Lloyds Bank unit Halifax and S&P Global showed. <\/p>\n