2021.07.2910:24:00UTC+00Gold Hits Over One-week High On Dovish Fed

Gold prices rose about 1 percent on Thursday to hit over one-week high and the dollar slipped to one-month low after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell rejected the likelihood of an immediate tapering of the bond buying program.

Spot gold jumped 0.9 percent to $1,823.24 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 1.3 percent at $1,823.25 per ounce.

Following the Fed's slightly hawkish monetary policy announcement, Powell said that the economy is "still a ways off" from reaching a standard of "substantial further progress" to withdraw stimulus measures.

Powell's comments on inflation and job growth also suggested that "there is still a long way to go" for the Fed to consider a shift in policy.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate voted to push forward a bipartisan infrastructure plan amounting to $550 billion, which includes funding for roads, bridges, broadband and other physical infrastructure.

The five-year spending package would be paid for using COVID-19 relief funds, illegally paid unemployment benefits during the crisis and unutilized federal unemployment funds.

In economic releases, U.S. GDP data for the second quarter, due at 8:30 am ET, is expected to show an annualized growth of 8.5 percent, up from 6.4 percent in the previous quarter.

Pending home sales for June and weekly jobless claims figures for the week ended July 24 are also due in the New York session.