Gold Prices Hold Steady Ahead of Warsh's Jackson Hole Speech
Gold prices remained steady in early Asian trading on Friday as markets awaited US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's highly anticipated remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium. The metal was down 0.2% at $4,589.85 per ounce, while US gold futures fell 0.5% to $4,642.60.
The Fed officials expressed concerns about the US inflation landscape on Thursday, as the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index stood at 3.7% in the 12 months through July. This comes ahead of Chairman Warsh's speech later in the day at the event.
Despite its role as an inflation hedge, gold tends to lose appeal in a high interest-rate environment as it offers no yield. Traders see a 35.4% chance of a US rate hike in September and a 74.6% chance by December, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.