Bullish indicating open at $55-$60, IPO prices at $37
By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Friday morning in Asia as investors await U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium.
Gold Futures were up 0.66% to $1,671.75 by 11:58 PM ET (3:58 AM GMT). The U.S. Dollar Index, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched down on Friday after hitting a one-week low during the previous session.
Some Fed officials urged the central bank to begin asset tapering, with the measures currently in place ineffective and even potentially harmful, ahead of Powell’s speech later in the day.
Dallas President Robert Kaplan said he favors starting asset tapering in October 2021 or shortly after, with interest rate hikes following in 2022. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard called for a start in fall 2021, while Kansas City Fed President Esther George urged for an early move to begin in 2021.
All three officials also downplayed the impact of the latest COVID-19 outbreaks involving the Delta variant on the economic recovery. However, they also will not vote on policy in 2021.
In Asia Pacific, China’s net gold imports via Hong Kong fell nearly 29% in July after a sharp increase in June, according to Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department data released on Thursday.
Caution also reigned after Thursday’s suicide bomb attack at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport, with casualties including civilians and U.S. troops.
Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack, and U.S. President Joe Biden warned the attackers that “we will hunt you down.”
In other precious metals, silver was flat at $23.54 per ounce, while platinum was up 0.3% and palladium edged up 0.2%.