By Seher Dareen
Gold prices climbed for a third session on Tuesday as the dollar and Treasury yields retreated ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s nomination hearing as bets grew for a quicker pace of U.S. interest rate hikes.
Powell pledged “to prevent higher inflation from becoming entrenched” in comments prepared for delivery at his hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee for a second four-year term at the helm of the Fed.
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,806.32 per ounce by 1322 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,807.80.
“While risk-on sentiment normally is negative for gold, rising oil prices and concerns that U.S. inflation might stay higher for longer are keeping the gold price above the $1,800/oz mark,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Gold is often seen as a hedge against oil-led inflation, while higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Declining bond yields and a weaker U.S. dollar were also pushing up gold prices, said Carsten Fritsch, a commodities analyst at Commerzbank.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes backed off an almost two-year high and the U.S. dollar was lower against major peers as markets await Powell for clues on the timing of monetary policy tightening.
“The manner in which Mr. Powell responds to these questions could hint at the ‘hawkishness’ of the Fed and consequently give markets some directional bias going forward,” said DailyFX analyst Warren Venketas.
Focus then turns towards the U.S. core CPI data on Wednesday that is expected to have risen by an annual 5.4% in December, from 4.9% in the prior month.
An estimate beat could cement bets on a fourth rate hike for 2022, which should weaken gold prices, Venketas added.
Silver rose 0.4% to $22.55 an ounce, platinum was up 0.4% to $944.01, and palladium rose 0.6% to $1,923.09.
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