Shafaq News / Gold prices dropped today, Thursday, following a sharp increase in the previous session, as investors adjusted their positions to focus on whether the president of the US Federal Council would hint at a change in the monetary strategy.

By 06:22 GMT, spot gold fell 0.8% to 1938.32 dollars an ounce, after rising 1.3% on Wednesday. And US gold futures fell 0.3% to 1946.70 dollars an ounce.

Powell is expected to deliver a speech at the annual conference of central bankers at 13:10 GMT as investors look to indicators on inflation and monetary strategy.

The dollar index touched its lowest level in about a week, while caution prevailed in global stock markets due to fears of renewed tension between China and the United States, after Washington blacklisted 24 Chinese companies and reports about Beijing's testing of missiles in the South China Sea.

As for the rest of the precious metals, silver fell 1.5% to $ 27.12 an ounce, palladium fell 1.1% to $ 2,172.93, and platinum fell 0.2% to $ 926.59 an ounce.