Gold prices were stuck in a tight range on Tuesday as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of a U.S. inflation report that could give fresh perspective on how soon, and by how much, the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates this year.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was flat at $2,020.28 per ounce (Oz), as of 0134 GMT, trading in a tight range of $3.

* U.S. gold futures were almost unchanged at $2,033.90/Oz.

* Trading volume is expected to be thin with markets in China and Hong Kong closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

* Bullion closed 0.2% lower on Monday, after briefly slipping to a more than two-week low of $2,011.72/Oz.

* All eyes were on the January U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data due later in the day. Americans reported a fairly stable outlook for inflation at the start of the year, a New York Fed survey showed.

* Wall Street economists expect the year-on-year CPI to rise 2.9%, down from 3.4% in the previous month, according to a Reuters poll. The core CPI is also expected to have slowed its growth on a year-on-year basis in January to 3.7%, from 3.9% in the previous month.

* Traders see about a 62% chance of a Fed rate cut in May, according to LSEG's Interest Rate Probability app, IRPR.

* Spot platinum was flat at $888.88 per ounce, palladium rose 0.3% to $894.38, and silver was steady at $22.70. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0700 UK Unemployment rate Dec 0700 UK Claimant count unemployment Jan 1000 Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment Feb 1330 US Consumer Price Index Jan (Reporting by Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)