• Gold price gains above $2,450 as traders widely anticipated the Fed will begin reducing interest rates from September.
• The US CPI data for July boosted confidence that price pressures will return to the desired rate of 2%.
• Investors await the US monthly Retail Sales data for July.

Gold price (XAU/USD) rises above $2,450 in Thursday’s European session. The precious metal gains ground as investors seem to be increasingly confident that the restrictive monetary policy stance by the Federal Reserve (Fed), maintained for more than two years, will start to be unwound in September. 

The United States (US) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for July, released on Wednesday, added to evidence that price growth is on track to return to the desired rate of 2%. Annual headline inflation decelerated to 2.9% from expectations and June’s reading of 3%. In the same period, the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, grew by 3.2% as expected, down from the prior release of 3.3%. 

Firm speculation for Fed interest-rate cuts in September has limited the upside for both the US Dollar (USD) and bond yields. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, exhibits a subdued performance and trades slightly above a seven-month low of 102.16. 10-year US Treasury yields move higher to near 3.84% but remain close to weekly lows.