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By Bloomberg

Gold held above $1,200 an ounce as investors weighed speculation that the Federal Reserve will push back a decision to raise interest rates after data showed U.S. retail sales were little changed last month.

Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,215.35 an ounce at 2:16 p.m. in Singapore from $1,215.75 on Wednesday, when the metal surged to $1,218.99, the highest since April 7, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Gold in Shanghai jumped.

Gold has risen in May as the dollar fell on speculation the Fed isn’t getting any closer to raising borrowing costs for the first time since 2006. Retail sales barely budged in April, missing projections for a small gain. A liftoff in rates seems most probable in the late summer, according to David Altig, research head at the Fed Reserve Bank of Atlanta, who said it would be better for the bank to err on the side of waiting too long to raise rather than to tighten too soon.

“Expectations amount to a likely delay in the timing of the first Fed fund rate hike as U.S. retail sales printed below market expectations,” Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. wrote in a report. “The weakening dollar does have its part to play in rallying the precious metal complex.”

Any Meeting

Fed Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said Tuesday the central bank could decide to begin raising rates at any meeting, and that he’s in “wait-and-see mode” headed into the next gathering in June. Most economists in a Bloomberg survey late last month predicted the central bank will start tightening in September, rather than at next month’s meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

Gold for June delivery dropped 0.3 percent to $1,215 on the Comex after surging 2.2 percent on Wednesday, the biggest climb for a most-active contract since April 27. Holdings in exchange- traded products backed by gold increased for a second day on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bullion of 99.99 percent purity jumped 1.4 percent to 242.40 yuan a gram ($1,215.99 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.4 percent to $17.1845 an ounce. Prices climbed 3.5 percent on Wednesday, the most since April 27. Platinum increased 0.4 percent to $1,152.44 an ounce, while palladium was little changed at $787.50 an ounce.