Gold steadies near $1330, adds around $10 for the week

Following a drop to the $1320 area earlier in the day, the troy ounce of the precious metal rose in the second half of the day and was last seen trading around $1330, adding 0.4% on the day and looking to close in the green on the weekly chart for the eighth time in the last ten weeks.

A sharp decline seen in the US Treasury bond yields in the second half of the day allowed safe-havens to gather strength. Furthermore, falling bond yields weighed on the greenback to provide an additional lift to the pair. At the moment, the yield on the 10-year reference is down 1.7% on a daily basis and the US Dollar Index losing 0.5% on a weekly basis at 96.50.

Earlier in the session, several Fed officials voiced their support for the current patient monetary policy stance ahead of FOMC Chairman Powell's congressional testimony next week.

• Fed's Bostic: Policy direction 12-18 months out not as clear as in past.
• Fed's Williams: Phillips curve is alive and well.
• Fed's Clarida: Fed will consider new tools to ease policy if needed.
• Fed's Bullard: Not 'pencilled in' a rate cut for this year.
• Fed's Quarles: Fed has discussed ending balance sheet runoff in latter half of this year.

Meanwhile, the fact that major equity indexes in the U.S. are clinging to their modest daily gains makes it difficult for the pair to push higher for the time being.

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