Gold extended its slide Thursday after recording its first monthly loss since October as the dollar hovered at six-week highs.
Attention remains on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s return to Capitol Hill. His comments earlier this week set off a drop for stocks and a gain in the dollar on expectations the central bank could be more aggressive with interest-rate hikes.
“While the marketplace has digested…Powell’s testimony to U.S. lawmakers Tuesday, in which he sounded a more hawkish tone on U.S. monetary policy, some are now thinking Powell’s testimony to the U.S. Senate on Thursday morning could find him clarifying his sentiment put forth Tuesday,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com. “On Tuesday, Powell intimated there could be four small U.S. rate hikes this year, beginning in March.”
