Gold rose on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar eased, while market participants braced for the minutes of the U.S. central bank's last policy meeting and upcoming Jackson Hole symposium for clues on future interest rate moves.

Stocks start the week just shy of record highs, underpinned by a well-received corporate earnings season and hopes the Federal Reserve will soon start reducing official borrowing costs again. Investors are therefore keen that Friday’s keynote address by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium will be suitably dovish.

The stock market is heading into a catalyst-filled week as Fed Chair Jerome Powell gets ready to speak at Jackson Hole and big retailers report earnings.

Gold rose on Wednesday, buoyed by a softer U.S. dollar, as investors looked towards the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting and the Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers this week for cues on further rate cuts.

Liquidity constraints pose a significant challenge for BTC bulls looking to engineer a steep uptrend well into the year-end.

London (UKX) +1.08% at 9,288.  UK's inflation rises to 3.8% in July, highest in 18 months. Germany (DAX:IND) -0.60% at 24,277. France (CAC:IND) -0.08% at 7,973. The headline annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was unchanged from the prior month at 2% in July.

The U.S. dollar was little changed on Wednesday as traders awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the annual Jackson Hole central bankers' symposium later this week for clues on the path of monetary policy.

Bitcoin fell below $113,000, pulling the crypto market down 1.5% to $3.9t as profit-taking deepened ahead of Powell’s Jackson Hole speech.