By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Monday morning in Asia, continuing a second consecutive week of losses.
Gold futures were down 0.36% at $1,940 by 12:25 AM ET (5:25 AM GMT). Stocks, which usually move inversely to gold, were up in Asia on Monday. Meanwhile, the dollar was flat on Monday.
The yellow metal was boosted on Friday by a stronger dollar alongside a slew of positive U.S. data. The data included the 5.86 million reading for July’s existing home sales, and both the manufacturing and service sectors purchasing managers' index (PMI), which remained above the 50-mark indicating expansion, beat forecasts prepared by Investing.com.
But investors retreated from the safe-haven asset after hopes were raised for a new COVID-19 treatment on Sunday. The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) said that it had given “emergency use approval” for a new potential treatment that uses blood plasma from patients who have recovered from the virus to treat COVID-19.
Meanwhile, investors will be looking to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium, due to open on Thursday, for further clues on the U.S. monetary policy outlook. The Fed’s monetary policy framework review, focusing on a new inflation strategy, is widely expected to be covered in Powell’s speech after the release of the minutes form the Fed’s last meeting during the previous week disappointed investors.