Gold extended its August rebound on Monday, with spot bullion rising about 0.8% to $4,641.27 an ounce in Asian trading after touching its strongest level since May 15. US futures advanced to around $4,697.70, putting the $4,700 level in view. The metal gained more than 5% last week as the dollar weakened and concerns around Treasury intervention and US fiscal policy fuelled demand for hard assets.
The dollar remained near multi-month lows after the US Treasury expanded buybacks of longer-dated securities, a move intended to improve market liquidity following a surge in long-term borrowing costs. That decision has revived concerns about debt sustainability and the dollar’s purchasing power, encouraging investors to favour scarce assets such as bullion and Bitcoin. Bannockburn Global Forex managing director Marc Chandler said gold’s move above $4,600 had strengthened its technical position, with a convincing extension potentially opening the way toward roughly $4,680, though he cautioned momentum had become stretched.
The next macro tests arrive with the July personal income and spending report, including the PCE price index, due Wednesday, August 26. The previous reading showed headline PCE inflation at 3.7% in June, well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is then scheduled to deliver keynote remarks at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on Friday, August 28. Markets still favour the Fed leaving rates unchanged in September, but futures assign a meaningful probability to a quarter-point increase, which would normally weigh on non-yielding assets.
Geopolitical risk is adding another layer of haven demand. Washington is preparing tougher sanctions against Iran and its trading partners amid the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz. Silver held near $69 an ounce, platinum traded around $1,879, and palladium around $1,350. For crypto, the broader signal is that dollar weakness and fiscal uncertainty are reinforcing the hard-asset narrative, keeping Bitcoin in focus alongside gold ahead of inflation data and Warsh’s speech.
