After Its Worst Week in Seven Months, Gold Rises Before Powell's Address

Gold prices were subdued on Monday following their worst week in seven months, with attention now shifting to a talk with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after stronger-than-anticipated U.S. job statistics stoked fears of additional monetary tightening.

The price of gold fell by 2.5% on Friday and more than 3% in the previous week after U.S. employment data for January was significantly stronger than anticipated. The readings sparked concerns that the Fed has sufficient economic room to continue raising interest rates, resulting in a dollar and Treasury yields recovery rally.

This dragged on most metal prices, with gold- which had a good run-up to Friday’s data- suffering substantial losses. For the first time in nearly a month, the price of gold went below the important $1,900 support level.

Spot gold was steady at $1,864.93 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in April slid 0.2% to $1,876.40 an ounce by 18:50 ET (23:50 GMT) (23:50 GMT).

Tuesday's discussion with Chairman Jerome Powell at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. will provide additional economic guidance. Any remarks on the current employment numbers and inflation trajectory will be attentively monitored.

As anticipated, the Fed hiked interest rates last week and hinted that it will continue to do so in the near future. This sparked greater bets that the central bank could swing away from its hawkish posture by the year-end.

However, these wagers were quickly reversed by Friday's strong employment figures, which also fueled fears that U.S. inflation may remain rising for a longer period of time than anticipated.

Additionally, other precious metals declined on Friday and were trading in a range on Monday. After plunging below $1000 per ounce, platinum futures climbed 0.2%, while silver futures resumed losses, sliding 0.4% to $22.340 per ounce.

Copper prices recovered marginally this week after falling nearly 4% the previous week, as markets balanced a potential demand resurgence in China against rising fears of a worldwide recession. Rising interest rates and soaring inflation are projected to severely weigh on the global economy this year.

High-grade copper futures increased 0.4% to $4.0475 a pound.

This week, the focus is on additional economic indicators from the world's largest copper importer, China, as well as social upheaval in the world's second-largest copper exporter, Peru.