And by 0905 GMT, gold in instant transactions rose 0.2 percent to $ 1871.48 an ounce, after it reached its lowest level since January 6 in the previous session. US gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,885.
The dollar index fell 0.1 percent after touching its highest level in about a month on Monday. A weaker dollar makes gold priced in the greenback more attractive to buyers who hold other currencies.
Gold prices topped $1,900 an ounce in January on hopes of a slowdown in interest rate hikes by the US central bank, but prices have fallen since then.
Market participants will closely follow Powell’s speech to see if his comments indicate significant tightening after last week’s strong jobs data.
Gold is sensitive to higher interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset.
As for other precious metals, silver rose in spot transactions by 0.5 percent to $22.37 an ounce, platinum rose 0.4 percent to $979.20, and palladium fell 1.04 percent to $1,563 an ounce.
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