By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Monday morning in Asia, with the dollar remaining near multi-month highs. However, continuing concerns about the spread of COVID-19 globally and its impact on the economic recovery turned investors towards the yellow metal.
Gold futures were up 0.28% to $1,788.95 by 12:26 AM ET (4:26 AM GMT). The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, was down on Monday but remained near a nine-and-a-half-month high hit during the previous week.
Investors are now looking to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium, due to take place between Aug. 26 and Aug. 28, for clues on the central bank’s timeline for asset tapering and interest
Ahead of the symposium, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan, who is among the Fed officials most supportive of beginning asset tapering soon, said that he might need to adjust that support should the spread of COVID-19's Delta variant impact the economic recovery.
The Bank of Korea will also hand down its latest policy decision on Thursday.
Top Asian hubs saw physical gold demand slow down during the past week thanks to rebounding domestic prices and the seasonal pause.
SPDR Gold Trust (P:GLD) holdings fell 0.3% to 1,011.61 tons, it said on Friday. Meanwhile, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed that speculators raised their net long positions in COMEX gold in the week ended Aug. 17 and cut their net long positions in silver.
Silver edged up 0.2% in other precious metals and palladium rose 1.5% after hitting a more-than-five-month low of $2,267.65 earlier in the session. Platinum firmed 0.3% at $998.85.