Gold Price Steady After Four-Day Gain

• Gold has risen by two per cent since a sharp slide last week bottomed out at $1,117.35, but traders remain wary of taking up fresh positions until they receive more clarity on when the Fed will press ahead with its first rate hike in nearly a decade.

“Attention is already turning to the data releases today and later in the week, the ADP payrolls and then the non-farm payrolls on Friday,” Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler said.

“Attention will inevitably turn to the fact that December is now looking the most likely for lift-off on rates, and maybe the market will start to price that in.”

• Gold has benefited from the current low interest rate environment, which cuts the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while pressuring the dollar. It is down nearly 4 percent this year, largely on expectations that rates will rise.
• On the wider markets, European shares fell 0.5 percent after a weak session in Asia overnight, as weak manufacturing reports from China, the United States and Europe fueled worries about slowing global growth. [MKTS/GLOB]