Gold eases as investors await Powell’s Jackson Hole speech

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Gold prices were subdued on Friday, as

investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of U.S. Federal

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Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at a key central bankers’

meeting, which will be vetted for guidance on interest rate

hikes.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold edged 0.2% lower at $1,755.09 per ounce,

as of 0118 GMT.

* U.S. gold futures were down 0.1% at $1,769.2.

* The dollar index and the benchmark U.S. 10-year

Treasury yields edged higher in early Asian hours.

* Powell’s speech is due at 1400 GMT on Friday at the

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Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming.

* U.S. Fed officials on Thursday were noncommittal about the

size of the interest rate increase they will approve at their

Sept. 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 U.S. 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

nine-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.

* Spot silver dipped 0.4% to $19.2 per ounce,

platinum rose 0.2% to $882.79, and palladium was

up 0.2% at $2,151.55.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1230 US Consumption, Adjusted MM July

1400 US U Mich Sentiment Final Aug

1400 US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks

on the economic outlook before the 2022 Jackson Hole

Economic Symposium

(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry

Jacob-Phillips)