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Gold retreated on Wednesday, sliding further below the $1,800 level as the dollar ticked higher and investors hoped for a timeline for the tapering of economic support from the U.S. Federal Reserve at this week’s Jackson Hole symposium.

· Spot gold slipped 0.8% to $1,788.90 per ounce by 1:46 pm ET.

· U.S. gold futures settled down 1% at $1,791 an ounce.

· Bullion rallied 1.4% on Monday to the highest in nearly three weeks, driven by a broad retreat in the dollar.

Prices have however been on a downward trajectory since as the dollar steadied off a one-week low, limiting appetite for the metal as a stronger dollar increases gold’s price for holders of other currencies.

· SPDR GOLD HOLDINGS:
HEAVY SELL NEARLY 30 TONS IN AUGUST

SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 2.91 Tons to 1,001.72 tons on Wednesday from 1,004.63 tons on previous session.

Overall, the holdings of SPDR decline 29.74 tonnes in this month.

· “There has been a boost in risk appetite and the dollar has also climbed up resulting in some consolidation in the metal,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities, adding some investors were also taking profits.

· Fed Chair Jerome Powell is to speak on Friday at the central bank’s annual economic symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which had to be moved online because of the U.S. Covid-19 surge.

· Investors remain divided over whether they will get a roadmap on when the U.S. central bank may start trimming its bond-buying program and if Powell would tone down the Fed’s hawkish tone, in turn helping gold.

· “The longer term (gold) holders are on the sidelines right now, until they get a little clarity out of the Jackson Hole,” said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors.

“But as the Jackson Hole gets underway and finishes out later in the week, you’ll probably see a bid or a continuation of the upward trend that we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks,” Matousek added.

· Silver eased 0.2% to $23.79 per ounce, while palladium shed 1.7% to $2,431.80.

· Platinum fell 1.6% to $995.59.

· TREASURIES-Yields rise with Fed's Powell speech in focus

U.S. Treasury yields rose to almost two-week highs on Wednesday ahead of a speech later in the week by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that will be scoured for any new clues on when the U.S. central bank is likely to begin paring bond purchases.

The move higher may have been exacerbated by algorithmic traders selling Treasuries after the 10-year yields broke above their 200-day moving average.

In choppy trading, benchmark 10-year yields gained six basis points to 1.349%, the highest since Aug. 13, and above the 200-day moving average of 1.326%.

· Dollar trades flat as U.S. yields rise, oil advances

The dollar was little changed on Wednesday as oil prices slowed after a big two-day advance, U.S. Treasury yields moved higher and investors awaited clues on the tapering of economic support by the Federal Reserve at this week's Jackson Hole symposium.

The dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of six major trading currencies, was higher in early trading, then eased 0.06% to 92.8550.

The euro gained 0.09% at $1.1766, while the yen fell 0.32% at $110.025.

The greenback had rallied until the start of this week, with the dollar index hitting a 9-1/2-month high of 93.734 on Friday, on fears over the Delta variant's economic impact and as the Fed signaled its tapering of monetary stimulus was likely this year.

· U.S. business equipment spending strong even as new orders flat in July

Data on Wednesday showed that new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods were steady in July, while an acceleration in shipments suggested business investment in equipment could offset an anticipated slowdown in consumer spending and keep the economy on a solid growth path in the third quarter.

Orders for durable goods, items ranging from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last three years or more, dipped 0.1% in July after rising 0.8% in June. They were pulled down by a 2.2% decline in orders for transportation equipment, which followed a 1.4% increase in June.

· Stocks extend their rally with S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fifth straight day of gains

· Powell will speak virtually on Friday at the Fed's annual economic symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Traders will be watching to see whether Powell expresses fresh concerns about the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant after Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan, among the U.S. central bank's most forceful advocates for starting to reduce support for the economy, said on Friday he may need to adjust that view if the coronavirus slows economic growth materially.

· GOLDMAN and BofA SLASH U.S. GDP Q3/2021

Economists at Goldman Sachs last week cut their third-quarter GDP growth estimate to a 5.5% annualized rate from a 9% pace.

Bank of America Securities slashed its GDP growth estimate for this quarter to a 4.5% pace from a 7.0% rate. The economy grew at a 6.5% rate in the second quarter, pulling the level of GDP above its peak in the fourth quarter of 2019.

· S.Korea seen delivering its first pandemic-era rate hike

South Korea is expected to become the first major Asian economy to raise interest rates since the pandemic began on Thursday to curb surging household debt and cool brisk consumer prices and an overheating housing market.

A slim majority of analysts polled by Reuters expect the Bank of Korea to raise the benchmark interest rate from a record low at its policy meeting that starts at 0000 GMT.

A 25 basis point increase to 0.75% and possible forecasts for more tightening would be underpinned by growing inflationary pressures and the strong export-led recovery.

Analysts say South Korea needs to be ahead of the curve as surging household debt and home prices threaten financial stability.

· Japan's service prices rise for 5th straight month in July

Japan saw the prices companies charge each other for services rise 1.1% in July from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight month of increase, Bank of Japan data showed on Thursday.

The increase in the services producer price index was smaller than a revised 1.3% gain marked in June, the data showed.

· U.S. races to evacuate thousands from Afghanistan with 6 days left until withdrawal deadline

The U.S. military alongside coalition partners ramped up emergency evacuation flights Wednesday, as foreign forces head into the final days of an immense humanitarian airlift.

In the past 24 hours, Western forces evacuated 19,000 people out of Kabul on 90 military cargo aircraft flights, a cadence of one departure flight every 39 minutes, according to the Pentagon.

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