Gold Prices Hold Steady Ahead of Warsh's Jackson Hole Speech
Gold prices held steady above $4,600 an ounce on Thursday as investors anticipated Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at Jackson Hole. The metal has rallied about 14% in August, driven by concerns over government borrowing, the dollar, and Treasury-market intervention.
The latest surge accelerated after the Treasury expanded liquidity-support purchases of longer-dated government bonds, pushing yields lower and reviving demand for assets that protect against currency depreciation. With federal debt above $40 trillion, concerns have grown about whether bond-market intervention can address the underlying fiscal imbalance.
Warsh's speech on Friday is expected to provide clarity on how aggressively he will tackle inflation, which remains at 3.7% year over year. A hawkish Warsh could lift real yields and the dollar, putting pressure on gold. Conversely, a less aggressive message could reinforce the debasement narrative and reopen the path towards $4,700.
Bullion-backed ETFs added more than 28 tonnes in the previous week, their strongest weekly accumulation since January, according to data cited by BeInCrypto. Gold has also climbed back above its 200-day moving average, reinforcing the technical recovery after its earlier decline.