Gold takes a breather after safe-haven demand fuels record run

By Ishaan Arora (Reuters) -Gold took a breather from a record run on Thursday, as investors booked profits a day after bullion breached the key $4,000-per-ounce level for the first time ever on economic and geopolitical uncertainties and hopes of further U.S. rate cuts this year. Spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,020.99 per ounce as of 0302 GMT, after hitting a record high of $4,059.05 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.7% to $4,040.70. On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could open the way to ending Israel's bloody two-year-old war, which the U.N. says constituted a genocide. "You can't look past the significance of the phase one deal between Israel and Hamas (given) one of the reasons why gold's been moving higher is geopolitical risks, but it's probably just a handy excuse to take profits after hitting another record," said Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve officials agreed that risks to the U.S. job market were high enough to warrant a rate cut, but remained wary amid stubborn inflation, per minutes of the September 16–17 meeting released on Wednesday. Markets are pricing in a 25-basis-point cut each in October and December, with probabilities of 94% and 79%, respectively, per the CME FedWatch tool. Non-yielding gold thrives in a low-interest-rate environment and during economic and geopolitical uncertainties. Global markets struggled this week amid political turmoil in Japan and France, coupled with an ongoing U.S. government shutdown, sparking a flight to safety in gold. Gold has climbed 54% year-to-date on strong central bank buying, increased demand for gold-backed Exchange-Traded Fund (ETFs), a weaker dollar and safe-haven demand. Elsewhere, spot silver lost 0.1% to $48.83 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $49.57 on Wednesday. Platinum slipped 0.8% to $1,649.81 and palladium dropped 0.1% to $1,447.81. (Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

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