Steady After Jackson Hole

Gold is unchanged in the Asia-Pac session, after closing 0.1% lower on Friday. Friday’s steady performance, following a weekly advance, comes after global central bankers updated policy guidance at the Jackson Hole Symposium. Fed Chair Powell's speech was deemed balanced with few surprises. “We are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward our objective,” Powell said.

• Meanwhile, ECB President Christine Lagarde vowed to set borrowing costs as high as needed and leave them there until inflation is back to its goal.
• In contrast, BoJ Governor Ueda said price growth remained slower than the central bank’s goal, explaining why officials are continuing with their current monetary policy strategy. “We think underlying inflation is still a bit below our target of 2%,” Ueda said. “This is why we are sticking with our current monetary easing framework.”
• Notwithstanding last week’s gain, the trend outlook remains bearish with support at $1897.7 (Aug 23 low), according to MNI's technicals team. With the breach of resistance at the 20-day EMA last week, resistance is raised to $1931.4 (50-day EMA).