Gold declines as risk appetite increases and anticipation of Jerome Powell’s speech

Gold fell on Monday as risk appetite increased, while traders awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and statements from a group of Federal Reserve members scheduled for this week for further clues on the path related to monetary policy.

By 1152 GMT, gold in spot transactions fell 0.3 percent to $1,987.29 per ounce, after exceeding $2,000 per ounce on Friday.

US gold futures also fell 0.2 percent to $1,994.50.

Ricardo Evangelista, chief analyst at Active Trades, said that Powell’s speech last week and the US jobs data that came in below expectations raised bets that the Federal Reserve would end the current cycle of raising interest rates, which led to an increase in investors’ appetite for risk.

He added that other assets such as Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose, indicating a shift in flows away from gold and thus a slight decline in its prices.

Traders expect by 95 percent that the Reserve Board will stabilize interest rates in December, and they expect by 86 percent that the first monetary policy easing will be in June.

What led to a decrease in the attractiveness of gold, 10-year Treasury bond yields rose to 4.5953 percent after reaching their lowest level in five weeks on Friday.

Investors will look for clues on the path of US interest rates in speeches from at least nine members of the US central bank this week, including a speech by Powell on November 9.

As for other precious metals, silver settled in spot transactions at $23.2 per ounce. Platinum fell 0.4 percent to $933.45. Palladium rose 0.7 percent to $1,126.97.