International gold prices held steady on Tuesday (March 7). Investors await the upcoming testimony to Congress by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the U.S. Labor Department’s upcoming non-farm payrolls report for February, both of which could influence the direction of Fed policy. The price of gold looks at US$1861 in the short term.
At 14:55 Beijing time, spot gold rose 0.04% to $1,847.40 an ounce; the main COMEX gold futures contract fell 0.11% to $1,852.6 an ounce; the U.S. dollar index rose 0.03% to 104.293.
“The weaker-than-expected U.S. data released last week somewhat raised concerns about whether the previously robust data was just an isolated seasonal phenomenon or a statistical anomaly,” said Christopher Wong, FX strategist at OCBC Bank.
Data released last week showed that U.S. durable goods orders fell 4.5% on month in January, a higher-than-expected 4% decline and the biggest drop since April 2020. New orders for U.S. manufacturing fell in January, weighed down by a slump in civilian aircraft bookings, although an increase in orders for machinery and a range of other products suggested the sector may be regaining its footing.
Powell is scheduled to give semiannual testimony before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The U.S. employment report for February is due on Friday. Market participants expect the Fed to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its March 21-22 meeting, with rates peaking at 5.475% in September.
“Fed Chairman Powell is not expected to clarify the size of further tightening,” MUFG said, adding that Fed Powell is more likely to “wait to assess incoming data to see whether the strength in economic activity and inflation continues, Then make a strong commitment to further rate hikes.”
“Gold may consolidate ahead of Powell’s testimony, but with Fed tightening extended, gold could rebound once the Fed’s current rate hike cycle is over – the question is timing,” said OCBC’s Wong.
On the daily chart, the price of gold may start an upward wave III from $1805. On the hourly chart, the price of gold started an upward wave III trend from US$1844, and the upper resistance looked at the 38.2% target at US$1854 and the 61.8% target at US$1861. The iii wave is the sub-wave of the upward (iii) wave that started from $1830, the (iii) wave is the sub-wave of the upward ((i)) wave that started from $1805, and the ((i)) wave is the sub-wave of the III wave .