Gold on the backfoot while traders brace of PCE and GDP release

LONDON (April 30) Gold price (XAU/USD) dips over 1% lower halfway through the European trading session towards $3,278 on Wednesday as traders await key US economic data, which could become the catalyst for an imminent breakout.  Bullion is facing a second day of some profit taking after United States (US) President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ease tariffs on car parts, as the President pointed out the progress in trade negotiations, Bloomberg reported. With more signs that trade tensions are diminishing, the Gold rally looks to be fading. 

On the economic calendar, all eyes shift to the preliminary reading for the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter. This is one of the key data points the Federal Reserve could look at when deciding what to do on May 7 regarding interest rates. That same Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, got called out again by Trump overnight, saying he knows far more about interest rates than Powell and that he is not doing a good job, Bloomberg reported. 

Daily digest market movers: Gearing up for big data dump

• Investors rattled by the growing global trade war flocked to gold-backed exchange-traded funds in the first quarter, with inflows propelling bullion’s 19% rally in the three-month period, according to the World Gold Council. Investors added about 227 tons of bullion to Gold ETFs in the first quarter, the most since 2022, helping prices to increase to fresh record highs, Reuters reports. 
• Indian jewelry sales slumped in March compared to the same month last year, and are expected to decline by up to 11% during the fiscal year through March 2026, Bloomberg reports. 
• At 12:30 GMT, the preliminary reading of the first quarter for US Gross Domestic Product is to be released. Economists expect the US economy to have grown by a modest annualized rate of 0.4%, much slower than the 2.4% expansion seen in 2024’s fourth quarter. 
• The monthly PCE data for March will also be released. The Monthly Core PCE is expected to come in at 0.1%, down from 0.4%. The monthly headline number is expected to fall to 0%, from 0.3% previously. 

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