Gold Waits on Fed Signals as Rate Hike Expectations Rise

Gold prices have stabilized around $4,600 per ounce, poised to close the week largely unchanged. Investors are awaiting Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, hoping for fresh guidance on the path of interest rates.

The markets currently price in a 65% chance that the Federal Reserve will hold rates unchanged in September, but higher-than-expected US inflation has reinforced expectations of a rate hike before year-end, with the probability of such a move by December remaining above 70%

Gold continues to find support from the so-called debasement trade, demand for assets that can protect against currency depreciation and rising debt burdens. The US Treasury's expanded bond buyback program has intensified concerns over the country's debt sustainability and put further pressure on the dollar.