Gold is at its highest level in a week, supported by the dollar’s decline

Gold prices rose to a one-week high on Thursday, supported by a slight decline in the dollar, as investors weighed somewhat measured comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following a widely expected interest rate hike.

Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,977.13 an ounce by 0352 GMT, after earlier hitting its highest since July 20.

US gold futures rose 0.4 percent to $1,978.70.

The US central bank raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday and has signaled another 25 basis point hike possibly in September based on the following data. Powell indicated that they no longer expect a recession in the United States.

It should be noted that gold is very sensitive to rising interest rates because it increases the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Investors are awaiting the European Central Bank’s monetary policy decision later in the day, in which the bank is expected to raise interest rates for the ninth time, after which it will start adopting a “data-driven” approach.

As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 0.5 percent to $25.04 an ounce, platinum rose 0.7 percent to $967.97, and palladium rose 0.4 percent to $1,264.64.