Gold gains amid stimulus speculation before Bernanke testimony

London, May 22. Gold today gained as speculation that the US Federal Reserve may signal the need for sustained stimulus countered further outflows from investor holdings. The gold rose 1.4 per cent to USD 1,396 an ounce and silver by 1 per cent to USD 22.84 an ounce. The Federal Open Market Committee will publish minutes of its latest meeting today and Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testifies in Congress. Gold fell into a bear market last month on expectations the Fed may scale back quantitative easing and as investment holdings fell. Bullion slid 17 per cent this year after 12 straight annual gains. Holdings in exchange-traded products dropped 10.3 tonnes to 2,177.1 tonnes, the lowest since July 2011.