Gold rises as traders await key speech by Powell for rate clues

Gold climbed for a third day, with traders waiting for more clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening path from Chair Jerome Powell’s speech due on Friday.

Bullion has been edging higher over the past few sessions after a six-day run of losses pushed it to a a three-week low on Monday. While Fed officials have been clear in the run-up to the annual Jackson Hole central bankers’ symposium that they see more tightening ahead to fight inflation, the size and pace of the rate hikes remains under question.

Goldman Sachs Group chief economist Jan Hatzius said he anticipates Powell will lay out a case for slower interest-rate increases. Still, concerns remain over whether the central bank will trigger a recession through rapid, aggressive rate rises. Higher rates weigh on the non-interest bearing precious metal.

Investors are also assessing a report that China is planning a slew of measures to stabilize growth as as its recovery stutters due to a property crisis and repeated virus lockdowns. This could potentially aid gold jewelry demand, which has been hurt by the slowdown.

Spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to $1,756.15 an ounce as of 9:33 a.m. in Singapore, after climbing 0.9 per cent in the past two days. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 0.2 per cent. Silver, platinum and palladium advanced.