Gold prices are unchanged as the currency and rates remain stable ahead of further Fed indications

Gold prices continue to be steady due to the constant value of the dollar and bond rates. Further signals from the Federal Reserve are currently awaited.

Gold prices moved little on Tuesday due to a lack of immediate clues, as the dollar and Treasury yields held stable ahead of a series of Fed speakers this week.

While the yellow metal has seen a robust run-up in the last two weeks, it has struggled to make headway in recent sessions, particularly since the dollar and rates have stayed resilient despite signals of slowing US economic growth.

Expectations that the Fed will keep interest rates higher for a longer period of time have kept investor appetite for gold limited, with recent labor and inflation indicators indicating that the central bank will need to maintain restrictive policy in the near term.

Spot gold was unchanged at $1,938.78 per ounce, while December gold futures were unchanged at $1,964.50 per ounce at 01:03 ET (05:03 GMT).

Markets are now focusing on a series of Fed speakers this week, who are likely to provide further monetary policy indications ahead of an interest rate decision later this month.

On Wednesday, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will talk, followed by Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee on Thursday.

Members of the Fed's open market committee, John Williams and Michelle Bowman, are also scheduled to appear on Thursday.

While a spate of negative economic data has raised expectations that the Fed's room to raise interest rates is limited, the central bank is still expected to keep rates higher for longer, given recent evidence of sticky inflation and solid labor market activity.

Higher interest rates are bad news for gold prices because they raise the opportunity cost of holding the yellow metal.

The possibility of a soft landing for the US economy this year has also weakened the yellow metals' safe-haven appeal, though concerns about a Chinese and eurozone economic slowdown have supplied some support.