Gold hovers near 1-month low on Fed chair's hawkish comments

[BENGALURU] Gold edged higher on Wednesday (Dec 1), hovering close to a 1-month low, after the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would discuss ending its bond purchases sooner.

Spot gold rose 0.1 per cent to US$1,775.85 per ounce by 2.11 am GMT, only US$2 shy of Tuesday's (Nov 30) last recorded price which was the lowest since Nov 4.

US gold futures was steady to US$1,776.60.

Powell said the Fed will discuss whether to end their bond purchases a few months earlier than previously anticipated in December and the word "transitory" is no longer the most accurate term for describing the nature of current inflation.

Reduced stimulus and interest rate hikes tend to push government bond yields up, raising the opportunity cost of non-interest bearing gold.

Powell's comments also helped strengthen the US dollar, further weighing on gold as it increases the metal's cost to buyers holding other currencies.

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Fed officials are not happy with inflation above the central bank's 2 per cent target and bringing actual inflation down will be important to keeping expectations anchored near the central bank's goal, Fed Vice-Chair Richard Clarida said.

Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann said on Tuesday that the new Omicron coronavirus variant could hurt consumer confidence, which would weaken economic recovery.

The World Health Organization warned countries not to impose blanket travel bans over the new Omicron coronavirus variant, as governments and scientists try to determine how much protection current vaccines would offer against the strain.

Spot silver fell 0.3 per cent to US$22.73 an ounce. Platinum gained 0.7 per cent to US$940.48, while palladium gained 1 per cent to US$1,756.19.

REUTERS