By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Gold was up on Wednesday morning in Asia. After U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sounded less hawkish and reiterated his commitment to tackling inflation, investors shifted their attention to U.S. inflation data as they seek clues for possible interest rate rises.

The climbed 0.01% to $1.818.75 at 11:39 ET (4:39 GMT). On Wednesday, the, normally moving to gold, sank 0.01%.

At his Senate Banking Committee hearing for a second term as Fed chairman, Powell said the Fed could need several months to decide on the running down of its $9 trillion balance sheet, adding it would also ensure that high inflation did not become “entrenched”.

On Thursday, Lael Mindard, the nominee for Fed vice chairman will be heard by Senate Banking Committee. On the same day, Fed officials will speak, including Thomas Barkin from Richmond Fed, Patrick Harker of Philadelphia Fed, and Charles Evans, Chicago Fed President.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields dropped because investors saw interest rate increases as having a negative impact on economic growth. Monday’s yields reached 1.808%; the highest point since January 21, 2020.

The Asia Pacific consumer price index (CPI), released earlier today, showed a 0.3% decline and 1.5% growth in Asia Pacific. In December, however, the CPI grew 10.3% annually.

Investors are now waiting for the U.S. to arrive and then the latter later that day. They will be following on Thursday.

Silver fell 0.1%, platinum dropped 0.4% and palladium flattened at $1,920.67 in other precious metals.