Gold flat ahead of Fed Chairman’s congressional testimony this week

Gold prices kept flat at settlement today, March 6, ahead of the release of vital economic readings that may give clues about the course of monetary policy tightening from the Federal Reserve.

Today's data showed new orders for manufactured goods in the US fell 1.6% on a monthly basis. The reading was slightly better than the 1.8% drop projected by economists in a poll by The Wall Street Journal.

The yellow metal’s stability came today amid a weaker US dollar. Additionally, the 10-year Treasury yield surged to 3.987%.

Later this week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to testify to the Senate. Further, the monthly US jobs report is slated for release on March 10.

In terms of trading, gold for April delivery held ground at $1,854.60 an ounce, registering no changes at settlement of today’s session.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, closed 0.2% lower to 104.333 points at 9:55 pm Makkah time.