Global Stock Markets
Gold prices clung to positive territory early Tuesday ahead of the first congressional testimony from new Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and any clues he might offer on the likely pace of interest-rate hikes this year.
Gold gained and the dollar fell as most analysts looked for a fairly neutral position from Powell in his maiden trip to Capitol Hill as Fed leader.
April gold GCJ8, +0.11% rose $1.50, or less than 0.1%, to $1,333.80 an ounce. Prices have gained modestly since the contract tallied a loss of 1.9% for last week—the biggest drop since the first week of December. May silver SIK8, +0.17% edged up by 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $16.64 an ounce.
The silver-focused exchange-traded iShares Silver Trust SLV, +0.58% actually slipped premarket, as did the gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +0.25%
Powell’s prepared remarks to the House Financial Services panel will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and his testimony is slated to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Investors are chiefly looking for what the new Fed chief will say about how fast the central bank might raise interest rates if inflation starts to pick up.
With the risk of a less-than-hawkish stance from Powell in the air, the ICE Dollar Index DXY, +0.00% eased. Precious metals, often pegged to dollars, tend to rise when the buck weakens because a falling dollar can make buying those assets cheaper for investors using weaker monetary units.
While inflation worries could spur safe-haven gold buying, rising interest rates would pressure the metal because bullion pays no interest. Expectations that there could be an additional rate hike helped push the 10-year yield closer to the 3% mark last week, though that yield has pulled back in recent days. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.41% edged up to 2.873% from 2.862% late Monday.
In other metals, May copper HGK8, -0.57% fell 0.6% to $3.204 a pound.
April platinum PLJ8, -0.20% fell 0.3% to $998.50 an ounce, while June palladium PAM8, +0.00% fell 0.1% to $1,053.45 an ounce.
Gold gained and the dollar fell as most analysts looked for a fairly neutral position from Powell in his maiden trip to Capitol Hill as Fed leader.
April gold GCJ8, +0.11% rose $1.50, or less than 0.1%, to $1,333.80 an ounce. Prices have gained modestly since the contract tallied a loss of 1.9% for last week—the biggest drop since the first week of December. May silver SIK8, +0.17% edged up by 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $16.64 an ounce.
The silver-focused exchange-traded iShares Silver Trust SLV, +0.58% actually slipped premarket, as did the gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +0.25%
Powell’s prepared remarks to the House Financial Services panel will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and his testimony is slated to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Investors are chiefly looking for what the new Fed chief will say about how fast the central bank might raise interest rates if inflation starts to pick up.
With the risk of a less-than-hawkish stance from Powell in the air, the ICE Dollar Index DXY, +0.00% eased. Precious metals, often pegged to dollars, tend to rise when the buck weakens because a falling dollar can make buying those assets cheaper for investors using weaker monetary units.
While inflation worries could spur safe-haven gold buying, rising interest rates would pressure the metal because bullion pays no interest. Expectations that there could be an additional rate hike helped push the 10-year yield closer to the 3% mark last week, though that yield has pulled back in recent days. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.41% edged up to 2.873% from 2.862% late Monday.
In other metals, May copper HGK8, -0.57% fell 0.6% to $3.204 a pound.
April platinum PLJ8, -0.20% fell 0.3% to $998.50 an ounce, while June palladium PAM8, +0.00% fell 0.1% to $1,053.45 an ounce.
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