Gold holds steady as investors focus on Jackson Hole symposium

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Gold held steady on Wednesday, with gains

checked by an uptick in the U.S. dollar, as market participants

looked forward to a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome

Powell later this week.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was little changed at $1,746.60 per

ounce, as of 0126 GMT, after rising 0.7% in the previous

session.

* U.S. gold futures eased 0.2% to $1,758.20.

* The dollar rose 0.2% against its rivals, making

gold more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

* Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were hovering near

a more than one-month high hit in the previous session.

* Focus turns to Powell’s speech at the annual global

central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday

for more clarity on future interest rate hikes.

* The U.S. central bank has raised its benchmark overnight

interest rate by 225 basis points in total since March to

contain inflationary pressures.

* Data showed sales of new U.S. single-family homes plunged

to a 6-1/2-year low in July, while a survey from S&P Global

showed its measure of private sector business activity fell to a

27-month low, suggesting Fed efforts to tame inflation were

working.

* Higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of

holding non-yielding bullion.

* Business activity in the euro zone contracted for a second

straight month in August as the cost of living crisis forced

consumers to cut spending while supply constraints also hurt

manufacturers, a survey showed.

* SPDR Gold Trust , the world’s largest gold-backed

exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.32% to 984.38

tonnes on Tuesday from 987.56 tonnes on Monday.

* Spot silver fell 0.4% to $19.08 per ounce, platinum

was steady at $879.72, and palladium rose 0.8% to

$1,995.70.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1230 US Durable Goods July

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu

Sahu)

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