Gold hits two-month lows as dollar edges up

Gold futures tilted lower in Asian trade to July 24 lows as the dollar index rose to July 22 highs, ahead of US data and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's second part of his Congressional testimony.

As of 05:47 GMT, gold futures due in December fell 0.47% to $1,858 an ounce, while the dollar index rose 0.05% to 94.43. 

From the US, unemployment claims for the week ending September 18 are expected down 15 thousand to 845 thousand, while continuing claims are expected down 289K to 12.3 million. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will present the second part of his Congressional testimony alongside US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

US new home sales are expected down 4% to 890 thousand, after rising 16.6% to 901 thousand in July. 

 Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a hearing before the US House that the Congress should pump extra stimulus to small firms to help ease the coronavirus impact.

This comes amid the lack of agreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress on the second Covid-19 relief package

The US Federal Reserve held the interest rate between zero and 0.25%, and signaled that it plans to keep near zero at least until the end of 2023.

The central bank raised its estimates for the GDP in 2020, and lowered its forecasts for the unemployment rate to 7.6% due to the rapid recovery of the economy during this summer.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed back then the bank’s ability to support the US economy to return to its growth path, adding that Fed remains committed to using full range of tools.

US President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power in case his opponent Joe Biden won the presidential elections in November. 

The World Health Organization warned the world to be ready for upcoming pandemics, asserting this one won't be the last, with the history teaching us pandemic are a part of human life and countries have to be fair readier for the next one. 

Officials at the WHO said life won't get back to normal for a long time to come, asserting the need to maintain social distancing, with investors assessing expectations the European countries will impose new restrictions on public life as infections surge.