ET NEWS

Gold surged past the $3,600 an ounce level for the first time on Monday, hitting a fresh record high as soft U.S. labor data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week. Spot gold rose 1.3% to $3,631.66 per ounce, as of 9:59 a.m. EDT (1349 GMT). Bullion hit a record high of $3,636.69. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up 0.5% to $3,670.80. The yellow metal could extend its momentum toward $3,700-$3,730 in the near-term, with any brief pullbacks likely seen as buying opportunities, said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals. "Continued labor market softness and expectations of ongoing Fed rate cuts into early 2026 could provide sustained support for bullion." Friday's jobs report showed U.S. employment growth slowed sharply in August. Traders now see a 90% chance of a quarter-point rate cut at the Fed's September meeting, with around 10% chance of a larger 50-bps cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Lower rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. Gold prices are up 38% so far this year, after gaining 27% in 2024, bolstered by dollar softness, strong central bank accumulation, dovish monetary settings, and heightened global uncertainty. China's central bank extended its gold-buying streak to a 10th straight month in August, official data showed on Sunday. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields, meanwhile, were near their lowest in five months. Investors are now awaiting U.S. producer price data on Wednesday and consumer prices on Thursday for further clues on the Fed's policy path. "If weakness in U.S. data continues, then so too should the ongoing bullish momentum in gold, as both the U.S. dollar and yields fall further," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com. Conversely "if the U.S. data shows surprise resilience in the coming weeks, then that might cause gold to correct from these elevated levels," Razaqzada added. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 1% to $41.39 per ounce. Platinum was up 0.7% to $1,382.25, and palladium gained 2.1% to $1,134.56.

India's second largest IT services company Infosys will consider a proposal for buyback of company's equity shares at its meeting to be held on September 11, 2025.The company informed about the development today after market hours. Infosys shares ended at Rs 1,436.10 on the NSE, down by Rs 8.50 or 0.59%.The share buyback plan comes amid a strong underperformance by Infosys shares. The stock has fallen nearly 25% in the past one year while slipping 24% on the year-to-date basis. Infosys' performance has mirrored the lackluster show of the overall IT sector amid global headwinds. Nifty IT's decline over a one-year period and in 2025 so far, stands at 19%.The stock is currently trading below its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs) of Rs 1,524.5 and Rs 1,669.6, respectively and has traded amid high volatility. Its one-year beta stands at 1.1 according to Trendlyne. The Bengaluru-based company reported 9% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 6,921 crore for the first quarter ended June. Revenue from operations rose 8% YoY to Rs 42,279 crore. Revenues in constant currency (CC) terms grew by 3.8% YoY and by 2.6% QoQ in the first quarter. The company had won deals worth $3.8 billion in the said period, of which 55% were net new.Infosys raised its lower end of revenue growth guidance, pegging it at 1-3% in constant currency for FY26.Operating margin for the April-June quarter stood at 20.8%, which is a decline of 0.3% YoY and decline 0.2% QoQ. The company expects the same to hover around 20-22% for the rest of FY26.Segment wise, the dominant financial services clocked a CC growth of 5.6% YoY, while the manufacturing division rose by a healthy 12.2%. The retail growth was flat at 0.4%, and that of hi-tech business increased by a marginal 1.7%.