Gold futures reversed their initial decline and rose at the start of Thursday afternoon.

At the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, June gold futures were trading at $2,354.70 per troy ounce. As of the time of this report, they were up 0.27%.

Early on, it reached a session high of $2,364.00 per troy ounce. Gold is likely to find support at $2,286.20 and resistance at $2,384.50.

The US Dollar Index futures, which tracks the dollar’s trend against the basket of the other six major currencies, fell by 0.05% to trade at $104.97.

On the other hand, at the Comex, silver for delivery in May increased by 0.19% to trade at $28.10 per troy ounce, while copper for delivery in May fell by 0.26% to trade at $4.27 per pound.

Traders have dismissed strong speculations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will lean towards rate cuts at the June meeting. Investors drastically scaled back bets on a Fed rate cut after the March US Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that underlying price pressures increased more than expected for three consecutive months.

High inflation figures have heightened fears that US interest rates will remain higher in the range of 5.25%-5.50% for longer. This is a favorable scenario for interest-bearing assets, such as US bonds and the US Dollar. The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds fell slightly to 4.56% in Thursday’s session but remains near highs of over four months. The US Dollar Index (DXY) is trading near nearly five-month highs, close to 105.30.

Short-term demand for gold remains intact due to increasing geopolitical risks. Fears of direct involvement by Iran in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have heightened as the Israeli military plans to invade Rafah, where the majority of displaced Palestinians are taking refuge.