Gold was steady in Asia after dropping 0.7% on Tuesday before a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that could she more light on the interest-rate path.

Powell is likely to double down on his hawkish stance and try to convince markets the central bank is committed to vanquishing inflation, according to Bloomberg Economics. He gives his semi-annual testimony to Congress on Wednesday.

The prospect of more monetary tightening by the Fed and the European Central Bank has weighed on gold since their meetings last week. A run of gains in the dollar is also damping demand for the precious metal.

Bullion fell as much as 1.1% on Tuesday, dropping below its 100-day moving average and moving below the $1,940 to $1,980 an ounce range it's been in for most of June.

Spot gold added 0.1% to $1,938 an ounce as of 9:37 a.m. in Singapore. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady. Silver was flat, while palladium and platinum edged lower.

Source : Bloomberg