Gold climbs as traders expect hawkish Powell speech

Gold price advances almost 0.30% on Thursday, courtesy of an upbeat sentiment and overall buck’s weakness. Investors still digest mixed US economic data, released ahead of Powell’s speech.

Fed officials expect a 50 or 75 bps rate hike at the next meeting; awaiting September’s data. Gold Price trades in the green territory, spurred by overall US dollar weakness across the board, and falling US Treasury bond yields, amidst an upbeat trading session.

The gold index opened near the day’s lows, around $1750, and rallied towards the high of the day at $1763.71 before retracing to current price levels. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading at $1757.66, above its opening price which was $1750.57 versus Wednesday’s ending price at $1750.76.

Global equities reflect a positive sentiment. Incoming economic data from the US revealed that growth in the country improved but is stills in contractionary territory. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter dropped 0.6%, less than estimates of minus 0.8%.

The US Department of Labor revealed unemployment claims for the week ending on August 20. Initial Jobless Claims rose by 243K, less than the estimated 253K. This week’s report and the previous one further confirmed the robust labor market.