Gold was steady near a record high before a hotly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this week, which may offer clues on how rapidly the central bank will cut interest rates.
Bullion traded near $2,500 an ounce after reaching an all-time high on Monday. Mr Powell will speak Friday at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming, and is expected to confirm a pivot to lower borrowing costs next month. However, the market is more interested in hearing what might happen to rates after that.
Also this week, investors will be monitoring a US jobless claims report on Thursday, which may affect the Fed’s monetary-easing strategy as it tries to rein in inflation without choking economic growth. Lower rates are generally positive for non-interest bearing bullion.
The precious metal has surged more than 20 per cent this year, driven in part by optimism the Fed pivot was nearing. Increased haven demand due to heightened geopolitical risks and uncertainty ahead of the US election in November has also contributed, with central banks and Asian consumers being enthusiastic buyers.
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Still, there are signs that gold’s record run may now be weighing on demand in China, after a Tuesday report showed last month’s imports into the world’s biggest bullion-buying nation fell to the lowest since May 2022.
Spot gold was steady at $2,503.31 as of 1.16 pm in Singapore after touching a record of $2,509.94 on Monday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was up 0.1 per cent. Silver and palladium declined, while platinum was little changed. - Bloomberg
