Gold Stabilizes Near Two-Week Highs

Gold stabilized significantly on Thursday after reaching its highest level in nearly two weeks in the previous session, as market participants assessed the possibility of a U.S. interest rate cut in December amid mixed signals from the Federal Reserve.

By 0200 GMT, gold in spot transactions fell 0.2 percent to $4,154.09 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery dropped 0.3 percent to $4,151.20 per ounce.

Brian Lan from Gold Silver Central said, "At this moment, it is unclear what they will do next, and gold is holding steady ahead of the (Federal Reserve) meeting that begins this week."

Some officials from the U.S. central bank, including New York Fed President John Williams and Board of Governors member Christopher Waller, stated that a cut next month may be justified due to a weak labor market, which is putting pressure on Treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stabilized near its lowest levels in a month on Wednesday.

However, their stance contrasts with that of other officials who have called for pausing monetary easing until inflation shows a significant move towards the target rate of two percent.

Meanwhile, Kevin Hassett, a leading candidate to replace Jerome Powell as Fed Chair, stated that interest rates should be lower, thus supporting President Donald Trump's position.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the market expects an 85 percent chance of a rate cut in December.

Gold, which does not yield interest, tends to thrive when interest rates are low.

Data released on Wednesday showed that weekly jobless claims fell last week, although the labor market is struggling to absorb job seekers.

For other precious metals, silver in spot transactions fell 0.9 percent to $52.89 per ounce, platinum rose 1.4 percent to $1,611.04, and palladium lost 0.9 percent to $1,409.87.