Continues To Lack Direction

Gold is little changed in the Asia-Pac session, after closing unchanged at $2034.52 on Thursday.

• The precious metal’s stability came despite US Treasury yields pushing 3-5bps higher, with the 5-7-year bucket leading. Yields ticked higher after Initial Jobless Claims recorded a seasonally adjusted 218k (cons 220k) in the week to Feb 3 after last week’s surprise increase was revised a little higher to 227k (initial 224k).
• More generally, bullion continues to struggle for direction amid a lack of clarity regarding when the Fed is likely to start easing monetary policy.
• Fed speak on Thursday suggested the Federal Reserve has time to wait before cutting interest rates as the economy remains strong even as inflation falls. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said on Thursday that “You don’t have to be in any particular hurry. We’ve got some time to be patient,” Barkin said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.