Spot gold was down 1.4% to $4,594.36/oz, while gold futures slid 1% to $4,648.26/oz

Gold prices slipped on Wednesday, pressured by a stronger dollar after mixed inflation data for July kept precious metal market participants uncertain about the U.S. central bank’s monetary policy outlook.

At 20:00 GMT, spot gold was down 1.4% to $4,594.36/oz, while gold futures slid 1% to $4,648.26/oz.

The U.S. economic calendar was the highlight of the day.

As per the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index – widely seen as the U.S. central bank’s preferred inflation gauge – ticked up 0.2% M/M and 3.3% Y/Y in July, matching expectations.

With the cumulative data painting a picture of a resilient economy and sticky inflation, the central bank gains some more breathing room to keep interest rates steady while evaluating more incoming indicators. The CME FedWatch tool reflected this, with the odds of the central bank standing pat in September rising to nearly 64% from about 60% a day ago.

The PCE data also comes at a time of volatility in the U.S. bond market.

The focus now turns to central bank Chair Kevin Warsh’s upcoming keynote address at the annual Jackson Hole conference on Friday for more rate cues.

We suspect that Warsh will avoid discussing the Fed’s short-term plans, but he won’t avoid discussing the prospects for long-term inflation. But we suspect that Warsh will use the opportunity to offer a more ’balanced’ view of long-term inflation risks, Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie, said.

Inevitably, Warsh’s speech may sound hawkish, and surprisingly so, to listeners that have become accustomed to Warsh’s brand of optimism. But when everyone is sounding cautious and hawkish, the easy thing for Warsh to do is to ’go along to get along’ and show that he is not wedded to one overarching and structurally dovish view of inflation, he added.