Investing.com - Gold prices were on track for a sixth-straight session of gains on Tuesday as a string of dovish remarks from Federal Reserve policymakers and an equity selloff supported the precious metal.
At 9:13 AM ET (14:13 GMT), gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange edged forward $1.10, or 0.09%, to $1,226.40 a troy ounce.
The recent winning streak began when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned last Wednesday of slowing demand abroad, fading fiscal stimulus at home and the lagged economic impact of the Fed’s past rate increases, suggesting that a pause in tightening may well come in 2019.
Adding to that interpretation, Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida told CNBC last Friday that the rates were currently near neutral levels, while Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan also said that he expected a growth slowdown in Europe and China.
Markets still expect the Fed to undertake its fourth rate hike this year at its next meeting in December, but the remarks seemed to suggest a more cautious central bank in the face of uncertainty over the global economy and the current trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
A slower pace of interest rate increases would lessen the pressure on non-yielding bullion.
The recent selloff in U.S. equity markets led by tech stocks such as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have also served to heighten gold’s safe haven appeal.
The so-called FAANG stocks have all fallen more than 20% since their one-year highs, officially entering a bear market.
In other metals trading, silver futures slipped 0.02% at $14.400 a troy ounce by 9:17 AM ET (14:17 GMT).
Palladium futures slumped 1.32% to $1,126.20 an ounce, while sister metal platinum fell 0.98% at $849.20.
In base metals, copper traded up 1.11% to $2.830 a pound.