Gold prices rose to a three-week high today after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the U.S. central bank may slow the pace of interest rate hikes in coming months, weighing on the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields.

And spot gold was up 0.7 percent at $1,745.20 an ounce by 0912 GMT, its highest level since July eighth.

U.S. gold futures rose 1.4 percent to $1,743.70 an ounce.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point yesterday in an effort to curb the sharpest inflation the country has seen since the 1980s.

Powell said another “unusually large” rate hike would be appropriate to bring up at the September policy meeting, but said the decision would be based on economic data coming between now and then.

The dollar index fell 0.2 percent to its lowest level in more than three weeks, while gold prices weighed on holders of other currencies.

As for other precious metals, silver was up 1.3 percent at $19.38 an ounce in spot transactions, platinum was up 0.7 percent at $892.36 and palladium was up 2.9 percent at $2090.42.

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