Gold futures were little changed Monday, holding steady after snapping a run of four straight weekly declines, as investors awaited testimony this week by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.Price action
Gold for April delivery
GC00,
+0.16%
GCJ23,
+0.16%
rose $2.60, or 0.1%, to $1,857.20 an ounce.
May silver
SIK23,
-0.01%
was up 3.2 cents, or 0.2%, at $21.272 an ounce.
April platinum
PLJ23,
-0.57%
fell 0.4% to $975.20 an ounce, while June palladium
PAM23,
-2.35%
declined 2.1% to $1,419 an ounce.
May copper
HGK23,
-0.01%
shed 1% to $4.026 a pound.
Market drivers “Over in the commodity complex, gold bounced back with force, rising more than 2% last week. In classic fashion, the precious metal took advantage of the pullback in real yields and the U.S. dollar, although it will be tough for this advance to continue for long in a regime where the Fed is expected to stay restrictive for longer,” said Marios Hadjikyriacos, lead investment analyst at XM, in a note.
Treasury yields continued to pull back Monday, after the 10-year rate last week briefly topped the 4% level. Rising yields raise the opportunity cost of holding gold, while a stronger dollar makes commodities priced in the unit more expensive to users of other currencies. Powell will testify on Tuesday to the Senate Banking Committee and on Wednesday to the House Financial Services panel. Both hearings are set to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern. Powell is expected to sound a tone similar to other Fed officials, emphasizing the need to continue raising interest rates in its effort to bring down inflation. See: Powell to talk to Congress about the possibility of more interest-rate hikes, not fewer