Egypt's Inflation Slows in July

A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Egypt's Inflation Slows in July

A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation slid to 25.7% in July from 27.5% in June, a rate of decline faster than analysts had forecast, the country's statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Thursday.
Month-on-month, prices fell by 0.4% in July, down from 1.6% in June. Food prices declined by 0.3% in July, though they were still 28.5% higher than a year ago.
A poll of 18 analysts had expected inflation to have slowed to a median of 26.6% in July, extending a deceleration that began in September, when inflation reached a peak of 38.0%, Reuters reported.
Egypt has tightened its monetary policy under an $8 billion International Monetary Fund financial support package it signed in March, although that program has also required it to increase many domestic prices and let its currency plunge.
The central bank hiked interest rates by 600 basis points (bps) on March 6, bringing total increases in 2024 to 800 bps.
The government raised the price of some subsidized products to battle a budget deficit that hit 505 billion Egyptian pounds ($10.27 billion) in a 3.016 trillion pound budget in the year that ended on June 30.
On June 1, the government raised the price of subsidized bread by 300% and on July 25 the price of fuel by up to 15%.



Gold Gains on Fed Rate Cut Hopes

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Gold Gains on Fed Rate Cut Hopes

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Gold prices rose on Thursday on expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut next week, while palladium hit its highest in more than two months due to supply concerns from top producer Russia.
Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,517.88 per ounce by 0942 GMT, supported by the 21-day moving average at $2,505, Reuters reported.
US consumer prices rose marginally in August, but underlying inflation signaled some stickiness, which could result in the Fed delivering a smaller 25-basis-point cut at its meeting next week.
"Judging by gold's reaction to the latest US inflation data, it seems as if today's expectations of moderately lower US interest rates are sufficient to support prices around current levels of $2,500 per ounce at least in the short term," said Carsten Menke, an analyst at Julius Baer.
Traders are waiting for the US Producer Price Index (PPI) for August, the initial jobless claims print due later today and the consumer sentiment data on Friday for more clues on the Fed's path.
Palladium gained 0.6% to $1,014 per ounce. It earlier hit $1,030.68, the highest since July 8, on supply concerns after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that Moscow should consider limiting exports of uranium, titanium and nickel.
"Palladium is the market that is up for a short-covering rally. Putin did not mention palladium. But since the metal is a by-product of Russian nickel production, such export curbs could drive down production of both metals and deepen the current deficit in the palladium market," said WisdomTree commodity strategist Nitesh Shah.
Russia's Nornickel is the world's largest producer of palladium and a major producer of platinum, accounting for 41% and 12% of global mining output, respectively.
Spot silver added 0.4% to $28.81 and platinum gained 0.3% to $953.79.