Gold edges off 4-week low, awaits clues on Fed policy

By Jan Harvey

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold edged off the previous day's four-week low on Thursday as the dollar retreated, but prices were rangebound ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen this week which will be watched for clues on monetary policy.

Investors are hoping Yellen will give a clearer signal on the path of interest rate hikes when she addresses a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. rates, as these increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,324.11 an ounce at 1131 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were down $2.60 an ounce at $1,327.10.

Strong U.S. employment readings have led some to speculate that rates could rise as soon as September, though mixed messages from the bank's latest gathering have clouded the outlook.

Minutes from the U.S. central bank's July 26-27 policy meeting showed broad agreement that more economic data is needed before raising interest rates, but recent comments from other policymakers have been much more hawkish.

"After the Fed minutes, gold reacted quite positively, and then a few days later there were comments from some officials saying actually the Fed should press ahead with a rate hike," Capital Economics analyst Simona Gambarini said.

"That weighed on the gold price. Now what we're seeing is a bit of a wait-and-see mode, where markets are just monitoring the situation and waiting for further comments that might move the market."

The dollar edged lower ahead of the Jackson Hole meeting. The CME Group's FedWatch tool showed futures markets indicate an 18 percent chance the Fed will hike rates at its policy meeting next month, and around a 50 percent chance of an increase in December. [FRX/]

Expectations that the Fed will hold off on further rate hikes are a major factor in gold's 25 percent rally this year.

Top consumer China's net gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong rose 28.6 percent in July, data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department showed on Thursday.

Silver was up 0.2 percent at $18.55 an ounce, after hitting an eight-week low of $18.46 earlier in the session.

Platinum and palladium were up 0.5 and 0.1 percent at $1,077.30 and $682.50 respectively, after touching their lowest in more than four weeks on Wednesday.

"The platinum group metals (PGMs) fell harder than gold, possibly due to thinner trading conditions," HSBC said in a note.

(Additional reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; editing by William Hardy)