Gold range-bound as investors wait for Fed chair’s speech

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Gold traded in a narrow range on

Wednesday as investors awaited more insight into the outlook for

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interest rates from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell

when he speaks at central bankers’ symposium at Jackson Hole

later this week.

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,751.16 per ounce by 0854

GMT, trading in a $9 range. It advanced 0.7% in the previous

session.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,763.60.

“Gold is holding above $1,750 and is showing resilience,

despite the strength of the dollar,” said Carlo Alberto De Casa,

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external analyst for Kinesis Money.

“From a technical point of view, there is now an important

support zone between $1,740 and $1,750.”

Looking ahead to the Fed chair’s speech on Friday, De Casa

said investors want to hear Powell’s opinion on inflation

trends, and any dovish turn on the outlook for interest rates

could lift bullion.

Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist at DailyFX, said bullion

prices had made a correction after six days of decline, and

investors were now looking for Powell to provide “some kind of a

guidance, or framework about the Fed policy.”

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari was the latest

official to reiterate the U.S. Fed’s focus on controlling

inflation ahead of all else.

While gold is considered a hedge against inflation, higher

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interest rates are a disincentive to holding zero-yield bullion.

Keeping gold prices in check, the dollar also firmed

near recent peak against its rivals, making gold less appealing

for buyers holding other currencies.

Aside from Powell, investors will also focus on a U.S.

second quarter gross domestic product second estimate and July

consumer spending data due later this week.

Spot silver fell 0.2% to $19.13 per ounce, while

platinum rose 0.3% to $881.75.

Palladium gained 0.4% to $1,988.86.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru;

Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)