Gold hits record peak as rate-cut bets burnish appeal, silver jumps
Markets expect about 65% chance of US rate cut by September
Silver scales highest since Dec 2012
Platinum hits its highest levels since May 12, 2023
Fed minutes due on Wednesday
Updates prices and graphic
By Sherin Elizabeth Varghese
May 20 (Reuters) -Gold prices hit an all-time high on Monday, as a slowing U.S. inflation trend boosted expectations the Federal Reserve could deliver its first interest rate cut soon, while silver scaled a more than 11-year peak.
Spot gold XAU= rose 1% to $2,438.44 per ounce, as of 0811 GMT, after hitting a record high of $2,449.89 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 1.1% to $2,442.60.
Data last week showed signs of cooling inflation and traders now expect a 65% chance of a U.S. rate cut by September. FEDWATCH
The dollar index> =USD remained subdued, making greenback-priced bullion more attractive to buyers holding other currencies. USD/
A soft U.S. dollar and expectations the Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates soon has helped gold prices, said Kyle Rodda, a financial market analyst at Capital.com.
Bullion is known as an inflation hedge, but higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.
Minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting due on Wednesday along with comments from a slew of Fed speakers will be on investors' radar for this week.
"Gold prices sneaked in a cheeky record high ahead of China's (market) open on Monday. Yet as the move has not been confirmed with by a weaker U.S. dollar, it seems to have been caught in a tailwind from higher metals futures on China's exchanges," said City Index senior analyst Matt Simpson. MET/L
China, the top consumer of bullion and a majority of industrial metals, announced "historic" steps on Friday to stabilise its crisis-hit property sector.
Spot silver XAG= rose 1.3% to $31.88 after hitting an over 11-year high.
"Silver's relative cheapness compared to gold and its strong fundamentals are invigorating investor interest. Platinum is trading at premium over palladium with rising inflows of exchange traded funds," analysts at ANZ wrote in a note.
Platinum XPT= fell 0.2% to $1,078.88, after hitting its highest since May 12, 2023 earlier in the session. Palladium XPD= dropped 0.2% to $1,006.49.
Gold-to-silver ratio https://reut.rs/4aI1VAR
Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Krishna Chandra Eluri
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