FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.4% at $2,369.93 an ounce by 0107 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $2,385.10 an ounce.
* Israel will make its own decisions on how to defend itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as Western countries pleaded for restraint in their response to a volley of Iranian attacks.
* U.S. economic activity grew slightly between late February and early April and businesses were concerned that progress in reducing inflation would stop, according to a Federal Reserve survey.
* Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said she expects price pressures to ease further this year, allowing the Fed to reduce borrowing costs, but only when it will be “fairly confident” that inflation is heading sustainably towards its 2% objective.
* Falling interest rates increase the appeal of holding bullion without yield.
* The European Central Bank would rein in the economy even after cutting interest rates twice, but there is no rush to reduce borrowing costs, ECB policy chief Mario said Centeno.
* The global silver deficit is expected to increase by 17% to 215.3 million troy ounces in 2024 due to 2% growth in demand, driven by robust industrial consumption and a 1% decline in total supply, the Silver Institute Industry Association said.
* Amid a flurry of comments from global financial leaders at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, and with many markets seeing huge moves in recent weeks, investors are taking a not much time.
* Spot silver rose 0.2% to $28.28 an ounce, platinum edged up 0.3% to $940.55 and palladium was listless at $1,026.25.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 1230 US Initial Unemployment Clm Weekly 1230 US Philadelphia Fed Business Index April 1400 US Existing Home Sales March
