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Gold prices slipped on Thursday weighed
down by a stronger dollar, while cautious investors awaited
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comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and
interest rate decision by the European Central Bank later in the
day.
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,714.99 per ounce by 0403
GMT, after rising nearly 1% on Wednesday.
US gold futures inched 0.1% lower to $1,725.50.
The dollar index was steady near a two-decade high
touched in the previous session.
“A lot of eyes are glued to what Powell will say tonight and
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whether there’s any view on what the Fed will do at the end of
the month,” said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based
dealer GoldSilver Central.
Gold hasn’t really regained its shine as a safe-haven with
liquidations seen in exchange traded funds (ETFs) and many
investors are on the sidelines because of the Fed raising
interest rates, Lan added.
Powell will participate in a discussion at Cato Institute
conference later in the day, which could be his final public
comments before the Sept. 20-21 policy meeting.
Fed officials said on Wednesday they still are not convinced
that the worst of the US inflation scare has passed, hinting
at continuation of the central bank’s aggressive rate hikes.
The Fed is expected to lift its policy rate by another 50 or
75 basis points this month.
Investors were also expecting a hefty rate increase from the
ECB to combat soaring inflation at its policy decision at 12:15
GMT, followed by President Christine Lagarde’s news conference
at 12:45 GMT.
Spot silver fell 0.3% to $18.45 per ounce, platinum
was down 0.5% at $861.94 and palladium eased 0.2%
to $2,039.17.
(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)
financialpost.com