Investing.com - Gold traded narrowly in Asia on Friday with the market treading water ahead of views from the U.S. Fed chief later in the day expected to set the tone.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange swung between small gains and losses, last up 0.02% to $1,325.35 a troy ounce, while silver futures for September gained 0.06% to $18.517 a troy ounce. Copper futures for September on the Comex rose 0.10% to $2.078 a pound.
Earlier, In Japan, national core CPI fell 0.5% year-on-year for July more than the 0.4% decline seen, while national CPI eased 0.4% as expected in data that is now calculated under a 2015 base year with updated weightings. The core figure was the the fifth straight drop after a 0.4% decline in June. Retailers are cautious about raising prices in broad sectors after last year's price hikes amid uncertainty over global and domestic growth. Slow wage hikes are also clouding the prospects for the Bank of Japan's achieving its stable 2% inflation target.
Investors stayed cautious as the closely watched summit of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, gets ready to kick off.
The annual economic symposium is in the spotlight with Fed Chair Janet Yellen's opening remarks on Friday at 10 a.m. EST. But while she speaks early in the conference, other central bankers will discuss and consider the future of monetary policy in the aftermath of the financial crisis and in a low interest rate era.
Besides Yellen, three other central bank officials will be speaking at the conference. Bank of Mexico Governor Agustin Carstens, ECB Executive Board Member Benoit Coeure and Bank of Japan Governor Kauhiko Kuroda will participate in a panel discussion Saturday at 12:25 p.m. ET to close the conference.
Overnight, gold prices slumped to a fresh four-week low in North American trade on Thursday, adding to losses after a pair of U.S. economic reports increased the chances of an interest rate increase in coming months.
The number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits fell by 1,000 last week to a five-week low of 261,000, the Labor Department said. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 265,000 last week.
A separate report showed that U.S. orders for long lasting manufactured goods bounced back more than forecast in July, recovering from the prior month’s decline.
The upbeat data bolstered expectations of faster economic growth and raised the probability of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase this year.
Odds for a rate hike as early as next month mounted following hawkish comments from several Fed officials in recent days, including Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer and New York Fed President William Dudley.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, investors are pricing in an 27% chance of a rate hike by September, up from 12% at the start of last week. December odds were nearly 43%.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar in which it is priced.