Investing.com – Gold prices edged towards $1,300 buoyed by falling expectations of U.S. monetary policy tightening later this year, after Janet Yellen failed to offer any details on monetary policy or balance sheet normalization in a speech at Jackson Hole on Friday.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $5.39, or 0.42%, to $1,297.41 a troy ounce.
Gold prices hit a session high of $1,299.40 before tailing off slightly, amid falling investor expectations of a third rate hike later this year, after Yellen sidestepped monetary policy in a speech.
Yellen’s speech comes ahead of a speech by her European counterpart Mario Draghi, who is expected to offer little in the way of updates concerning future monetary policy to avert an upward reaction in the euro.
The ECB’s July policy meeting minutes revealed officials warned that the recent surge in the euro could hamper the central bank’s efforts to get inflation closer to its target of below, but close to, 2%.
According to investing.com’s fed rate monitor just over 30% of traders expect the fed to hike rates in December, compared to nearly 50% in the prior week.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
Gold has traded in a narrow range so far this week, but remained on track to post a weekly gain, as investor doubts grew over the possibility of tax-reform amid rising turmoil in Washington.
Gary Cohen, however, eased doubts over tax-reform on Friday, reassuring market participants that the president will make a major push on tax reform in a series of speeches over the coming weeks, the first one of which gets underway in Missouri on Wednesday.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.56% to $17.05 an ounce while platinum futures lost 0.28% to $979.785 an ounce.
Copper traded at $3.03, down 0.07% while natural gas futures fell by 1.97% to $2.81.