Investing.com - Gold prices inched up on Thursday in Asia after the IMF said the U.S. dollar is overvalued.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, inched up 0.1% to $1,424.15 a troy ounce by 12:43 AM ET (04:43 GMT).
The yellow metal received some support overnight after the IMF said the U.S. currency is overvalued by 6-12% based on near-term economic fundamentals.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies fell 0.2% to 96.750.
A fall in the dollar decreases the cost of dollar-based assets for buyers from other countries, and their prices can rise.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly indicated late Tuesday that she was still uncertain over whether it was the time to cut interest rates at the end of the month.
"At this point I'm not leaning one direction or another, but I am very much oriented toward looking at the data, watching the pieces come out, looking at the preponderance of evidence on mood and behavior and momentum and headwinds," she said in an interview with Reuters.
In the Fed’s last meeting in June, the central bank said it would act “as appropriate” to sustain the economy. However, data this month showed the U.S. economy may be too strong to justify a rate cut, as consumer spending is stronger-than-expected while unemployment is near a 50-year low.
Retail sales that came out this week also outpaced forecasts.
Despite the strong data, concerns surrounding the Sino-U.S. trade war remained as U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that it is still a long way to go before Washington and Beijing could make a trade deal, while threatening to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods.
"The jury is still out in my mind about whether or not the headwinds will be so sufficient to knock the U.S. economy off of its trend pace of growth," Daly said.