Aug 15 (Reuters) - Gold was subdued on Friday and was
heading for a weekly fall, as hotter than expected U.S.
inflation data dented expectations for a super sized 50 basis
point U.S. interest rate cut in September.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was down 0.1% at $3,333.58 per ounce, as
of 0120 GMT. Bullion has fallen 1.9% for the week. U.S. gold
futures for December delivery eased 0.1% to $3,378.90.
* The Labor Department reported the U.S. producer price
index (PPI) rose 3.3% year-on-year in July, beating forecasts of
2.5% while weekly jobless claims were lower than expected at
224,000 versus 228,000 forecast.
* This comes after data on Tuesday showed that U.S. consumer
prices increased marginally in July, increasing chances of a
Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
* While Thursday's hot PPI data did not dent chances of a
Fed rate cut in September, it hurt the case for the Fed to
resume cutting rates with a 50 bp reduction.
* St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem on Thursday said a
half-point rate cut at the Fed's September meeting is not
warranted, a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it
was possible.
* Non-yielding gold thrives in a low-interest-rate
environment.
* Investors will next focus on whether Fed Chair Jerome
Powell offers any fresh clues on policy at the U.S. central
bank's annual economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming, next week.
* On the geopolitical front, investors are tempering
expectations that Friday's summit between Donald Trump and
Vladimir Putin will deliver a significant breakthrough on the
war in Ukraine despite some hopeful sign.
* SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.30% to 961.35
metric tons on Thursday from 964.22 tons on Wednesday.
* Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.2% to $37.89 per
ounce, platinum fell 0.3% to $1,351.78 and palladium
slipped 0.4% to $1,140.69.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0200 China Urban Investment (YTD)YY, Retail Sales YY
July
0200 China Unemp Rate Urban Area July
1000 EU Reserve Assets Total July
1230 US Import Prices YY, Retail Sales MM July
1315 US Industrial Production MM July
1400 US U Mich Sentiment Prelim August