Gold Slightly Lower, Nervous Awaiting Jackson Hole
Gold edged lower ahead of the Jackson Hole meeting, with market focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Friday. Spot gold prices hovered around $3,340/oz, paring some of Wednesday's gains when President Donald Trump's call for Fed Chair Lisa Cook to resign sparked demand for safe-haven assets.
Current market expectations point to a Fed rate cut of at least 25 basis points next month, which is theoretically positive for gold as it offers no yield. However, minutes from the latest meeting showed officials still considered inflation risks more prominent than labor market concerns, keeping the policy tone cautious.
Gold has gained more than a quarter of its value year-to-date, with the biggest surge occurring in the first four months, when prices reached record levels. Support has come from central bank buying and inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Several analysts—including UBS—still see room for upside, while BMI (Fitch Solutions) predicts prices will remain high and move in the $3,200–$3,600/oz range until the end of 2025.
At 10:47 a.m. London time, gold fell 0.3% to $3,339.92/oz, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat. Other metals also weakened: silver, palladium, and platinum also fell, indicating investor caution ahead of the next policy signal from Jackson Hole.
Key Points:
Market focus: Powell's speech at Jackson Hole for clues on the interest rate path.
Expectations: 25 bps cut next month → neutral-positive sentiment for gold.
Fundamentals: Central banks & ETFs support the YTD rally of >25%.
BMI projection: $3,200–$3,600/oz range until the end of 2025.
Latest: gold -0.3%, dollar flat, other precious metals weaken.(ayu)
Source: Newsmaker.id
