BENGALURU – Gold prices were flat in early Asian trade on Tuesday after declining about 1 per cent in the previous session as US Federal Reserve officials signalled that interest rates would remain high to bring down inflation.

Spot gold was flat at US$1,741.13 per ounce as at 0007 GMT. US gold futures were little changed at US$1,739.60.

The metal had hit a one-week high on Monday before closing lower for the first time in five sessions.

New York Federal Reserve president John Williams said on Monday that the US central bank needs to press forward with rate rises, even as he reckons a rate cut is possible in 2024 as inflation pressures likely ease.

St Louis Fed president James Bullard said the Fed needs to raise interest rates quite a bit further and then hold them there throughout next year and into 2024 to gain control of inflation.

Investors now await remarks from Fed chair Jerome Powell, who is due to speak at a Brookings Institution event on Wednesday.

The ADP National Employment report and the US Labour Department’s non-farm payrolls data are also due this week.

Gold is sensitive to rising interest rates as they increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.

The rare street protests that erupted in cities across China over the weekend were a referendum against President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid-19 policy and the strongest public defiance during his political career, China analysts said.

China’s net gold imports in October via Hong Kong fell 45 per cent from the previous month, Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department data showed.

Spot silver slipped 0.1 per cent to US$20.90, platinum fell 0.2 per cent to US$986.92, and palladium rose 0.2 per cent to US$1,848.92. REUTERS