Friday saw gold prices remained close to a seven-month peak, halting their recent surge in front of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's expected announcements later in the day regarding U.S. interest rates.

Spot gold advanced by 0.3% to $2,041.35 per ounce, while gold futures added 0.2% to $2,041.30 per ounce

Despite mounting concerns over an impending economic recession, safe haven demand for the yellow metal was also held up by a swath of mediocre purchasing managers index (PMI) numbers from around Asia.

As investors came to believe that the Federal Reserve will stop raising interest rates in November and would start lowering them in 2024, gold was enjoying significant gains. However, one major area of market uncertainty persisted to be the timing of any prospective interest rate reductions.

Later on Friday, Powell is scheduled to speak at two other venues. Markets were expecting the Fed Chair to modify his position, even though he has mainly stuck to his guns about rates staying higher for longer. This is because earlier this week, a number of Fed members gave dovish signals.