Gold holds near $4,030 as traders await the Fed's rate decision and Warsh's comments. Markets see a 70% chance of a hold and a 30% chance of a hike.
Alpha Score of 62 reflects moderate overall profile with moderate momentum, weak value, strong quality, moderate sentiment.
Gold prices held steady on Wednesday as traders waited for the Federal Reserve's rate decision and Chairman Kevin Warsh's press conference for the next signal on inflation and borrowing costs.
Spot gold was little changed at $4,029.08 an ounce by 0301 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August delivery slipped 0.2% to $4,028.10.
"Gold is very much connected to today's FOMC meeting," said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst at OANDA. The scenario that could reverse the recent bearish bias in gold is the Fed turning less hawkish, he said.
The Fed decision is due at 1800 GMT, with Warsh speaking at 1830 GMT. Markets see a 70% chance the central bank holds rates steady and a 30% probability of a 25-basis-point hike, according to the CME FedWatch tool. For September, markets price a 76% chance of an increase.
Higher rates raise the opportunity cost of holding gold, which pays no yield. The metal is often used as a hedge against inflation.
The Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are widely expected to keep rates unchanged on Thursday and Friday, respectively, and caution against rising inflation.
On the geopolitical side, the U.S. military said Tuesday it intercepted multiple ballistic missiles launched by Iran toward U.S. forces in West Asia. Washington called it "an attempted surprise attack" by Tehran. Iran's Revolutionary Guards later said they fired several ballistic missiles at a U.S. air base and a military command center in Jordan.
Oil prices drifted higher, supported by shrinking U.S. crude inventories.
Commerzbank on Tuesday lowered its year-end gold price forecast to $4,500 an ounce and said it expects silver to reach $67 an ounce by year-end.
Spot silver gained 0.9% to $57.65 an ounce. Platinum inched up 0.3% to $1,600.40. Palladium fell 0.7% to $1,261.
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