Gold prices, on Wednesday, August 23, inched up as the dollar slipped after remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump raised fears of a government shutdown, while investors awaited further direction from a key annual central banking conference this week.
Spot gold was up 0.1 percent to $1,285.30 an ounce by 0555 GMT, after shedding 0.5 percent in the previous session.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery were unchanged at $1,290.90 per ounce.
Elsewhere, markets were bracing for an annual gathering of central bankers at a meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Thursday and Friday, where Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi are set to deliver speeches on the outlook for monetary policy and interest rates.
“Most of the people are now looking for hints from the Jackson Hole meeting between the central bankers,” said Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong’s Wing Fung Financial Group.
“The most important thing is economic fundamentals…central banks are going to have tightening measures in monetary policies to have normalisation. So I don’t have much higher upward momentum for prices,” To said.
Spot gold may break a support at $1,282 per ounce and fall into a support zone of $1,270-$1,276, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
“On the other hand what has been supporting gold for the last six months or so is the risk aversion,” Wing Fung’s To said, referring to the uncertainty around the Trump
administration in the U.S. in particular.
Among other precious metals, silver slipped 0.2percent to $16.94 an ounce, while platinum was nearly unchanged at $974.85.
Palladium lost 0.8 percent to $925.25 after touching an over 16-year high at $940 on Tuesday.
