• Gold edged up for a third day on Wednesday on a weaker U.S. dollar while investors awaited testimony from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and central bank officials expressed caution about further interest rate hikes.
• Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,219.20 per ounce at 0345 GMT, adding to a 0.3 percent gain in the previous session, its biggest rise since June 23.
• "Gold's near-term direction will now be at the mercy of whether we get a hawkish Yellen on the Hill (on Wednesday)." said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.
• "Although the rally from $1,205 an ounce will be pleasing to gold bulls and now becomes technical support ahead of $1,200 and $1,195, gold faces stern technical resistance in the $1,230/$1,231 an ounce region," said OANDA's Halley in a note.
• "I think we have hit the bottom for the short-term period and we are trying to go back to the $1,230 level over the next one to two months," said Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager at ICBC Standard Bank, adding that the weaker dollar was supporting bullion.
• Spot gold still targets a range between $1,225 and $1,231 per ounce, as suggested by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, according to Reuters technical analyst, Wang Tao.
• Fed Chair Yellen will be testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Her prepared remarks will be released at 8:30 am on Wednesday morning
• In that regard, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Research thinks she will strike a similar tone as she did in the June press conference, emphasizing the Fed's plans to continue with the policy normalization process.
• Among other precious metals, silver rose 0.8 percent to $15.91 per ounce.
Reference: Reuters
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