On Thursday, the gold price was up during the European session, fluctuating in the usual range, as the markets prepare for today's speech of the Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen.
As of 08:52 GMT Gold for December delivery traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose $ 3.10, or 0.25%, to $ 1,227.00 per troy ounce. The day before, the price fell less than 0.1%.
The markets will be closely watching Janet Yellen’s comments in the search for new signals to changes in the monetary policy by the American central bank. Earlier this month, the Fed left interest rates unchanged as expected by many, but made clear that it can raise it in December as the economy is gaining momentum, and inflation is rising.
Also, there are scheduled important economic publications for Thursday, such as the CPI report, a report on the volume of new homes building, the index of manufacturing activity from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the weekly data on the number of applications for unemployment benefits.
It is estimated that the probability of rate hike in December is 86%.
The precious metal is sensitive to the rate increase in the US because its growth deprives investors of income from investments in gold bullion, contributing to the strengthening of the dollar.
On Thursday morning, the US dollar is trading at 14-year high the previous session against a basket of major currencies due to expectations of higher interest rates in the coming months.
USD Index is at 100.33 after rising to 100.59 the previous day, the highest since April 2003.
A strong US dollar, as a rule, is putting pressure on gold, as it reduces the metal's appeal as an alternative asset and supports the price of dollar-denominated commodities for holders of other currencies.
At the same time, the yield on 10-year US government bonds fell in early trading by 2.5 basis points to 2.198%, retreating from 10-month high at 2.302%, reached earlier this week.
Analysts have warned that near-term prospects for gold remain unclear.