Gold eases as investors await Powell’s Jackson Hole speech

GOLD prices were subdued on Friday (Aug 26), as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech at a key central bankers’meeting, which will be vetted for guidance on interest rate hikes.

Spot gold edged 0.2 per cent lower at US$1,755.09 per ounce, as of 1.18 am GMT.

US gold futures were down 0.1 per cent at US$1,769.2.

The dollar index and the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields edged higher in early Asian hours.

Powell’s speech is due at 2.00 pm GMT on Friday at the Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming.

US Fed officials on Thursday were noncommittal about the size of the interest rate increase they will approve at their Sep 20-21 meeting but continued hammering the point they will drive rates up and keep them there until inflation has been squeezed.

Higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting the dollar.

The US economy contracted at a more moderate pace than initially thought in the second quarter, as consumer spending blunted some of the drag from a sharp slowdown in inventory accumulation, dispelling fears that a recession was underway.

China’s net gold imports via Hong Kong jumped to a 9-month high in July, data showed on Thursday, with banks snapping up bullion as Beijing works to revive an economy hit by a resurgence of Covid cases.

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Gold inches higher as dollar softens ahead of Powell speech

Spot silver dipped 0.4 per cent to US$19.2 per ounce, platinum rose 0.2 per cent to US$882.79, and palladium was up 0.2 per cent at US$2,151.55. REUTERS