• Gold rises post-Powell's Jackson Hole comments on potential September policy easing.
• Powell cites inflation control, labor market concerns; Daly echoes rate cut expectations.
• US Durable Goods Orders jump 9.9% in July, showing economic strength; Middle East tensions boost Gold's appeal.
• US 10-year yields reach 3.81%; traders scale back on 50 bps cut bets, await Nonfarm Payrolls for more insights.

Gold extended its gains on Monday amid increasing bets that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will begin to ease policy in September. This is a certainty following Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole, when he said, “The time has come for policy to adjust." The XAU/USD trades at $2,516 per troy ounce, up by a minimal 0.16%.

Last Friday, Jerome Powell said that he was confident that inflation was on its way toward the Fed’s 2% goal and expressed worries about a weaker labor market, indicating that employment risks were skewed to the upside.

Powell gave the green light on interest rate cuts, adding that further cooling in the labor market is unwelcome.

Powell’s comments were echoed by San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, who said, “The time to adjust policy is upon us. It's hard to imagine anything could derail a September rate cut.”

Daly added that it’s premature to know the size of interest rate cuts, yet stated that if the economy weakens “more than anticipated, we will need to be more aggressive.”

US Durable Goods Orders jumped from a -6.9% contraction in June to a 9.9% MoM expansion in July, exceeding the forecast for a 4% increase. This was the most significant gain since May 2020, hinting the economy is still resilient despite showing some signs of slowing down.