Gold prices rose to a two-week high on Thursday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell opened the door to an interest rate cut as soon as September.
Spot gold was flat at $2,448.38 an ounce by 0217 GMT, having hit its highest since July 18 earlier in the session. Prices were just $35 below an all-time high of $2,483.60 hit on July 17.
U.S. gold futures rose 0.8 percent to $2,492.50.
“Gold bulls couldn’t resist buying more after the Federal Reserve effectively signaled the start of its rate-cutting cycle,” said Matt Simpson, chief analyst at City Index. “But gold enthusiasts may need to be a little cautious if it breaks $2,500 given the gold’s reluctance to hold on to gains at these levels.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that interest rates could be cut in September if the U.S. economy continues on its expected path, bringing the U.S. central bank closer to the end of a more than two-year battle against inflation but in the midst of the country's presidential election campaign.
Non-yielding gold tends to rise as interest rates fall.
Market focus shifts to US jobs report due on Friday.
Elsewhere, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran early Wednesday morning, an attack that sparked threats of revenge from Israel and raised further fears of a wider Gaza conflict in the Middle East.
As for other precious metals, silver in spot transactions fell 0.3 percent to $28.94 per ounce, platinum fell 0.3 percent to $973.65, and palladium was stable at $925.16.
