Investing.com - Gold prices inched up on Wednesday after gaining over 1% in the previous session on worries over Italian finances. EU officials expressed concerns about Italy’s financial budget plan and fears of a widening budget deficit drove up safe-haven demand.
Meanwhile, senior Italian lawmaker Claudio Borghi said most of the country’s problems would be resolved if it readopted a national currency.
Borghi later clarified his remarks by saying Italy’s government has no intention of leaving the euro.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also said the country is totally committed to the euro and that any comments that suggest a single currency are merely individual opinions.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.01% to $1,187.50 a troy ounce by 1:40AM ET (05:40 GMT).
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was trading at 94.98, down 0.2%.
In other news, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell gave a speech in Boston on Tuesday and said he is confident that low unemployment would not force the U.S. central bank to hike rates aggressively.
“The rise in wages is broadly consistent with observed rates of price inflation and labor productivity growth and therefore does not point to an overheating labor market,” Powell said in on Tuesday. “Further, higher wage growth alone need not be inflationary.”