Spot gold was almost flat at $1,336.88 an ounce at 0651 GMT.
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The dollar bobbed higher in Asia on Thursday, but major currencies continued to tread water ahead of the global central bankers’ gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at which Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen may offer new clues on United States monetary policy. The metal touched a 4-week low of $1,323.20 on Wednesday on a firm dollar.
Market expectations have increased that Yellen might indicate a clearer timeframe for the next US rate hike after strong housing data this week and hawkish comments by other Fed officials, but many analysts expect her to strike a more neutral stance.
With the economic calendar relatively light this week, investors largely stayed on the sidelines before Yellen s remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium of global bankers Friday.
“We all expect Yellen to give some indication of whether the Fed will increase interest rates at its next meeting in September. This might provide at least a modest boost for the big dollar”.
The euro rose to 113.22 yen from 113.14 yen in United States trade. Platinum and palladium were up 0.4 and 0.6 percent at $1,076.70 and $685.75, respectively, after touching their lowest in more than four weeks on Wednesday.
The US session shouldn’t be quite as uneventful as the European as we do have some important data being released, most notably durable goods orders and the services PMI.
Against a broad trade-weighted basket of its peers, the dollar was flat on the day at 94.72.
In equities, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.86 percent to 3,059.25 recently.
Offshore yuan in Hong Kong was down 0.03 per cent in early trade to 6.6730, before bouncing back to 6.6683 by 11am.
In other precious metals, silver fell to a fresh eight-week low of $18.48 on Thursday.
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“With speculative exposure still near record levels and amid negative chart signals, price risks remain to the downside – the market will be looking to Fed chair Janet Yellen’s testimony on Friday to determine near-term sentiment”, James Moore, a research analyst at FastMarkets, said. So far this year, it has gained 7.5%.
