Aug 28 (Reuters) - Gold steadied on Friday as worries over
an economic slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic countered
pressure from a jump in U.S. Treasury yields on Federal Reserve
Chair Jerome Powell's offer for more inflation tolerance.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold XAU= was up 0.1% at $1,929.94 per ounce by
0117 GMT, after falling more than 1.2% on Thursday. Gold has
fallen more than 0.5% so far this week.
* U.S. gold futures GCv1 rose 0.2% to $1,936.30.
* The Fed's new monetary policy strategy pledges to address
"shortfalls" from the "broad-based and inclusive goal" of full
employment and also promises to aim for 2% inflation on average.
* Longer-term U.S. Treasury yields climbed to their highest
levels in months on Thursday. Higher bond yields increase the
opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold. US/
* Meanwhile, the dollar index .DXY rose 0.1% against a
basket of major currencies. USD/
* Asian equities are likely to have a bumpy ride on Friday
after U.S. stocks scaled new peaks for a third straight session.
MKTS/GLOB
* More than 24.33 million people have been reported to be
infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 826,948 have
died, according to a Reuters tally. * The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment
benefits hovered around 1 million last week, suggesting the
labour market recovery was stalling as the COVID-19 pandemic
drags. * U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said
after talks with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on
Thursday that Democrats and Republicans remained far apart over
how much to spend on the next coronavirus relief legislation.
* Silver XAG= eased 0.1% to $27.01 per ounce, platinum
XPT= fell 0.7% to $922.07, while palladium XPD= gained 0.8%
to $2,178.48.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0645 France GDP QQ Final Q2
0900 EU Consumer Confid. Final Aug
1230 US Consumption, Adjusted MM July
1400 US U Mich Sentiment Final Aug