America News Agency

Spot gold stood at 2,673.21 dollars per ounce, holding below the previous session’s record peak of 2,685.42 dollars. U.S. gold futures were steady at 2,695.80 dollars.

Spot silver fell 0.3 percent to 31.93 dollars per ounce after hitting a nearly 12-year peak of 32.71 dollars in the previous session. In other metals, platinum was down 0.6 at 1,001.54 dollars, and palladium shed 1.1 percent to 1,035.75 dollars.

Last week, the Federal Reserve’s larger-than-usual half-percentage-point reduction ignited a rally in gold, which hit consecutive record highs and has gained about 1.8 percent so far.

Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding bullion, which is also considered a safe asset during economic and political turmoil. The market's focus is now on the core personal consumption expenditures price index data, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, which is due later in the day.

One of the primary catalysts for the rally has been gold, adding that the gold-to-silver ratio has come down with silver’s rally. The gold/silver ratio, which measures the number of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, indicates silver’s value in relation to gold. The industrial sector has driven the bulk of the remaining demand for silver. Silver’s usage in photovoltaic products like solar panels has nearly doubled over the prior year.