By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com – Gold lost some of its shine as a hedge to the coronavirus crisis after Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said the U.S. economy has been fairly resilient against the pandemic. But the close above the key $1,500 level meant that much of the yellow metal’s support was still intact.
“The coronavirus may not have lasting long-term effects and so the Fed may continue its present course for interest rates,” said George Gero, precious metals analyst at RBC Wealth Management in New York. “ Recent strong jobs numbers may keep the Fed from easing as well. All this is keeping gold in its trading range of $1,550-$1,600.”
Gold futures for April delivery on New York’s COMEX settled down $9.40, or 0.6%, at $1,570.10 per ounce.
Spot gold, which tracks live trades in bullion, was down $3.59, or 0.2%, at $1,568.31 by 3:45 PM ET (19:45 GMT).
Powell, in his semiannual testimony to Congress, said the Federal Reserve was closely monitoring the emergence of the pandemic and its impact on China and the world, despite the resilience of the American economy and jobs sector.
“We have to resist the temptation to speculate on this and so we’ll be watching that carefully again, and the question we’ll be asking is ‘will these be persistent effects that could lead to a material assessment’?” he said. “I think it’s just too early to say."