Gold prices jumped to a two-week high in early Asian trade on Thursday, after a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell boosted expectations of a lower US interest rate hike.
Gold in spot transactions rose 0.4% to $1775.77 an ounce, after touching the highest level since November 16, 2022, while US gold futures increased 1.7% to $1788.90 an ounce.
Yesterday, Wednesday, Powell said that the time has come to slow down the pace of the next hike in US interest rates, CNBC Arabia reported.
Market participants now largely expect the US Federal Reserve, at its next meeting in December, to raise interest rates by 50 basis points.
Lower interest rates make the precious metal more attractive and lower the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing gold.
Gold ended November transactions, up by more than 8%, which is the highest monthly rate of increase since July of 2020.
Investors are now awaiting the US non-farm payroll data expected to be released by the Labor Department on Friday, which may influence monetary policy decisions.
As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 0.3% to $22.26 an ounce, platinum rose 0.6% to $1038.46 an ounce, while palladium rose 0.6% to $1892.35 an ounce.
