BENGALURU: Gold hovered near a two-week low on Wednesday as the dollar remained buoyant ahead of a speech by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that is expected to offer clues on the central bank’s monetary policy.

Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1,213.41 per ounce at 1230GMT, having dipped to its lowest level since Nov 15 at $1,211.36 in the previous session.

US gold futures were flat at $1,213.30.

“The dollar is slightly stronger again that is largely dictating gold prices at the moment. Until the Fed Chairman’s speech, we are not going to see much movement,” ING analyst Warren Patterson said.

“Gold should stay fairly range-bound in the short term. I struggle to see it breaking below $1,200 and likewise on the upside, until the end of this year, I struggle to see it breaking above $1,250 as well.”

Among other precious metals, spot silver was down 0.1pc at $14.13 per ounce, having fallen to a near two-week low of $14.05 in the previous session. Palladium gained 0.4pc to $1,154.99 per ounce.

Platinum fell 0.4pc to $827 per ounce. Prices hit their lowest since Nov 15 at $825.25 on Tuesday.

The global platinum market will be oversupplied by around half a million ounces both this year and next, an industry report said, suggesting little respite for producers facing prices languishing near 10-year lows.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018