Gold prices fall

Gold ring prices slipped 0.18% to VND54 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.

Globally gold edged up as the dollar weakened, but prices kept to a tight range in the run-up to U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s policy decision, Reuters reported.

Spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,786.28 per ounce.

The Fed is widely expected to hike interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) at its final meeting of this year on Dec. 13-14.

“The Fed is expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, although officials have said they are likely to remain restrictive for some time. A weak inflation print could see that period become shorter than expected,” ANZ said in a note.

Lower rates tend to be beneficial for bullion as it decreases the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.

Goldman Sachs expects gold, with its real demand drivers, to outperform the highly volatile bitcoin in the long term, the bank wrote in a note on Monday.

“Spot gold may retest a support at $1,780 per ounce,” Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.