Gold down 1.2% below $1,750

Gold ended Friday with losses, in the aftermath of Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposiumwhere he stressed the need to tame inflation, supporting the outlook for higher interest rates from the Fed.

In particular, the chairman of the Federal Reserve reiterated his commitment to contain inflation, warning that he expects the US central bank to continue raising interest rates in a way that will cause “strain” on the country’s economy.

Powell stressed that the Fed will continue the fight against inflation “until the job is done” and to that end “will use its tools vigorously.” “While higher interest rates, slower growth and softer labor market conditions will reduce inflation, they will also bring pain to households and businesses,” he said.

Powell is “leaning toward aggressive tightening going forward until inflation is under control,” Wolfpack Capital analyst Jeff Wright told MarketWatch. “Something like this means a fall for gold, as it can’t compete with other risk-free assets like bonds,” he said.

At the same time, he noted that the precious metal will also come under pressure from the strengthened dollar.

“Gold could easily slide towards $1,700 or even lower,” Wright said, noting that in the short term it is unlikely that traders will step in to buy gold or support the metal.

In this climate, Mr gold U.S. crude for December delivery fell $21.60, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,749.80 an ounce. In weekthe precious metal fell 0.7%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The silver for September delivery closed at $18.746 an ounce, losing 37 cents or 2% on Friday, while on the week it slipped by 1.7%.

As for the rest of the metals, the palladium U.S. crude for September delivery lost $17.90, or 0.8%, to $2,121.90 an ounce, with its price down 0.5% on a weekly basis, while platinum saw the contract for October delivery lose $18.60, or 2.1%, to $855.30 an ounce, recording weekly losses of 3.7%.

Finally, O copper for September delivery remained almost unchanged at $3.697 a pound, while on the week it added 0.9%.