PRECIOUS-Gold holds steady as investors look to Powell's speech

* Asian stocks near two-year high
* Gold may test support at $1,911/oz - technicals
* Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus:
open
https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser

(Updates prices)
By Brijesh Patel
Aug 25 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Tuesday as a softer
dollar offset pressure from an equity rally while investors
stayed away from taking big positions ahead of U.S. Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech later this week.
Spot gold XAU= was flat at $1,931.97 per ounce by 0649
GMT. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were steady at $1,938.80.
Powell will discuss the Fed's monetary policy framework
review on the opening day of the Kansas City Fed's annual
central banking conference on Thursday, in a virtual and public
format because of the coronavirus pandemic. "There is lot of focus on Jackson Hole symposium and
Powell's speech... markets are reluctant to commit to a
direction until that happens," said DailyFx currency strategist
Ilya Spivak, adding that gold was closely tracking the dollar.
"We have seen a pullback in gold since the beginning of the
month around the sense that may be the Fed is not going to do
much in terms of expanding its policy tool kit."
The central bank has rolled out a wave of fiscal and
monetary stimulus measures and cut interest rates to near zero
to combat the economic toll caused by the pandemic, helping gold
climb nearly 28% this year.
Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of
holding non-yielding bullion and weigh on the dollar, making
gold cheaper for investors holding other currencies
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.1% against its rivals on
Tuesday. USD
Limiting gold's appeal, Asian stock markets rose as
investors cheered signs of progress in U.S.-China trade
negotiations and following a Wall Street rally. MKTS/GLOB
On the technical side, spot gold may test a support at
$1,911 per ounce, as suggested by its wave pattern and a
projection analysis, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
TECH/C
Elsewhere, silver XAG= was steady at $26.55 per ounce,
platinum XPT= rose 1% to $924.97, and palladium XPD= edged
0.1% higher to $2,161.44.

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