Retreat under

Gold retreated after reaching a record as investors weighed the Fed officials’ speeches. Gold retreated after reaching a new record as investors weighed policymakers’ statements ahead of Friday’s key employment report. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Thursday that rate cuts may not be necessary this year if inflation stalls and the economy, in particular, remains strong. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester also suggested the central bank could be approaching the level of confidence it needs to start cutting rates within months. In other news weighing on gold trading, a stronger dollar pushed bullion down as much as 0.9% to $2,279.88 an ounce. Despite the decline, the price was still close to the record high of $2,305.64 reached earlier in the session. The wave of comments from Fed officials followed remarks a day earlier by Chairman Jerome Powell, who reassured them that it would likely be appropriate to begin cutting borrowing costs “at some point this year.” Expectations about when the Fed will start cutting interest rates have been a key price driver for non-interest-bearing precious metals. Silver had previously jumped to a near three-year high before easing. Gold has been falling since mid-February and has broken records every day so far this week. It has also been supported by central bank purchases as well as rising geopolitical risks, including in the Middle East and Ukraine.