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FUNDAMENTALS
Spot gold held its ground at $5,076.09 per ounce, as of 0116 GMT. U.S. gold futures for April delivery were up 0.1% at $5,084.50.
* The dollar edged lower, making greenback-priced bullion less expensive for holders of other currencies.
* On the sixth day of war, Iran launched a series of attacks on Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
* U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. forces in the Middle East, said that the U.S. has enough munitions to continue its bombardment indefinitely.
* The U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran launched on Saturday has struck targets across the country and triggered Iranian retaliation.
* Global energy prices soared as the war disrupted supplies and shipping, prompting some major Middle Eastern producers to cut production.
* Bullion, traditionally viewed as a safe-haven asset, has risen about 18% so far this year, notching successive record highs amid heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
* U.S. data on Thursday showed initial jobless claims unchanged last week, while layoffs dropped sharply in February.
* Markets expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting on March 18, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
* Investors now await the U.S. employment report for February, due later in the day. * Spot silver edged 0.1% higher to $82.26 per ounce. Spot platinum inched up 0.1% to $2,124.05, while palladium rose 1.1% to $1,639.78.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1230 US Retail Sales MM January
1330 US Non-Farm Payrolls February
1330 US Unemployment Rate February
1330 US Average Earnings YY February
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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/news/gold-holds-steady-as-traders-gauge-economic-impact-of-middle-east-war/articleshow/129126147.cms
