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Investing.com -- Gold prices slipped lower Thursday, pressured by increasing uncertainty over U.S. interest rates ahead of the start of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Symposium.
At 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT), Spot gold fell 0.2% to $3,340.95 an ounce and gold futures for October fell 0.1% to $3,383.70/oz.
The yellow metal has traded in a largely rangebound fashion this week as uncertainty over U.S. rates deterred any major trades.
Gold slips ahead of Jackson Hole
Gold and broader metal prices declined after the minutes of the Fed’s late-July meeting largely reiterated the central bank’s wait-and-see approach towards cutting interest rates.
While two members of the rate-setting board had voted for a cut in July, the bulk of policymakers still favored no immediate reductions in interest rates, with the inflationary impact of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs remaining the biggest point of uncertainty.
Policymakers were also seen favoring keeping inflation low over risking some cooling in the labor market, a theme that could see the Fed look past weak payrolls data for July.
Attention is now turning to the start of the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated Jackson Hole symposium later Thursday, with central bankers from around the world gathering in Wyoming to discuss monetary policy.
The highlight is likely to be Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday - his last one at the annual gathering as Fed chairman - with investors searching for hints for a September cut.
Higher-for-longer rates bode poorly for non-yielding assets such as gold, given that they increase the opportunity cost of investing in said assets. Still, the yellow metal has retained a bulk of its gains made so far in 2025, as haven demand remained underpinned by concerns over slowing economic growth and geopolitical uncertainty.
Other precious metals traded in a mostly muted fashion Thursday. Spot platinum fell 0.9% to $1,329.90/oz, and spot silver was slipped 0.1% to $37.758/oz.
Among industrial metals, benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.5% to $9,690.35 a ton, while COMEX copper futures fell 0.6% to $4.4143 a pound.
U.S. economic data in focus
Ahead of Powell’s address at Jackson Hole, investors will be able to digest a slew of U.S. economic readings are will provide more insight into the world’s biggest economy.
Purchasing managers index data for August is due later on Thursday, as is initial jobless claims data, with the latter being watched for more cues on a cooling labor market.
Ambar Warrick contributed to this article