Gold prices were slightly lower on Tuesday and the dollar held steady as Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivers his semi-annual testimony before Congress today and tomorrow. Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,843.99 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.3 percent at $1,849.
Powell will testify before the Senate Banking Committee today and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
Investors remain worried over whether recent strong economic data will lead the Fed to get back to jumbo hikes.
Some analysts say that Powell will sound less hawkish during the two-day testimony.
Fed funds futures currently price in a 76 percent probability the Fed will raise rates by 25 basis points (bps) at its March 21 to 22 meeting.
Market participants also look ahead to the release of U.S. February jobs report on Friday for additional clues regarding the extend and duration of the U.S. central bank's restrictive monetary policy.
Economists expect employment to increase by 200,000 jobs in February after an increase of 517,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.4 percent.
Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan told a Sydney business summit that the bank predicted the U.S economy would reach a technical recession starting in the third quarter.
The recession would not be deep and interest rates would start falling in the second quarter of 2024, he said.
