GOLD STEADY, SILVER WEAKER

GOLD PRICES stabilised yesterday after a sharp retreat on Wednesday, taking a firmer dollar in its stride as investors looked forward to the US Federal Reserve’s stance on tapering of its economic support at its Jackson Hole symposium.

Spot gold price rose 0.1 percent to $1 792.16 (about R26 828) an ounce by 6.13pm.

US gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $1 794.10 an ounce.

Bullion slipped as much as 1.2 percent and below the key $1 800 mark on Wednesday as a stronger dollar dented its appeal.

Investors are keenly eying Fed chairperson Jerome Powell’s speech during today’s symposium, on the heels of suggestions from St. Louis Fed president James Bullard that the US central bank should end bond buying by early next year.

“The probability most people are looking at is that the Fed signals a stronger economy and some tapering in the next year or two years, and that’s hanging over the gold market,” said Jeffrey Christian, managing partner at CPM Group.

Christian partly attributed gold’s gains to political tensions in Afghanistan after the US Pentagon Press Secretary said an explosion at the Kabul airport was part of a complex attack resulting in casualties.

Gold’s modest gains came despite Bullard’s comments adding to the dollar’s strength and pushing benchmark Treasury yields up.

“While gold is going to struggle in an environment where stimulus is eventually removed from the table, interest rates are still going to be hard to come by as economic uncertainties will likely persist and that should still see some strong demand for bullion,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Silver fell 1.3 percent to $23.55 an ounce, platinum slipped 1.8 percent to $978.01, and palladium shed 2 percent to $2 381.55.