2021.08.2410:27:00UTC+00Gold Holds Steady Near Three-week High

Gold prices were little changed on Tuesday as the dollar index struggled for direction amid improved risk appetite after U.S. authorities gave full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine.

Spot gold slid 0.1 percent to $1,804.05 per ounce, after having jumped 1.4 percent to near a three-week high in the previous session amid a broad retreat in the dollar. U.S. gold futures were virtually unchanged at $1,806.45 per ounce.

Speaking from the White House, U.S. President Biden called the approval a key milestone in the nation's fight against COVID. He stressed that inoculation saves lives and that those awaiting final FDA approval no longer have a reason to delay.

A call by China's central bank for more economic support and signs of falling COVID-19 infections in China and India also added to investor optimism over global growth.

Amid increasing COVID-19 headwinds, market participants have scaled down their expectations that Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole this week will indicate a timeline for winding down the Fed's bond-buying program.

U.S. new home sales data for July will be featured in the New York session. Monday's flash PMI prints came in below estimates although they remain well into the expansionary territory.