FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $2,328.20 an ounce by 0112 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.3% to $2,339.70 an ounce.
* The dollar edged up 0.1% against its rivals. A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced gold more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
* The U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3% last month, in line with forecasts, a development that is unlikely to change expectations that the Fed will delay tapering interest rate until September.
* Fed policymakers reviewing the latest inflation data will find little to fuel the sense of urgency for a rate cut, but also nothing to rule out the likelihood of a cut rates starting later this year. * Falling interest rates increase the appeal of holding bullion without yield. * China’s gold consumption in the first quarter rose nearly 6% from a year earlier, the country’s Gold Association said. * Physical gold traders in India charged premiums last week for the first time in almost two months as falling domestic prices attracted buyers, while premiums among key Chinese consumers declined.
* Impala Platinum said the restructuring of its South African operations could result in the loss of 3,900 jobs as it battles weak metals prices.
* Chinese industrial profits fell in March and slowed the quarter’s gains from the first two months, raising doubts about the strength of a recovery for the world’s second-largest economy.
* Spot silver fell 0.2% to $27.12 an ounce, platinum fell 0.1% to $915.10, while palladium lost 0.8% to 946, $75.
