Daily Times

Gold prices crawled up Wednesday from what was the lowest settlement in five weeks, as the dollar eased, boosting the appeal of haven investments.

Gold came under pressure earlier in the week, and that downbeat tone continues to cloud the market, as comments from Federal Reserve officials raised expectations for further increases in interest rates this year. Higher rates dull the demand for gold in favour of investments that do offer a yield.

August gold GCQ7, -0.06% inched up 80 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,244.20 an ounce. The contract ended at $1,243.50 Tuesday, their lowest since May 16, according to FactSet data. The closely watched dollar index DXY, +0.00% slipped 0.1%, lessening the currency-related headwind for commodities priced in the currency. A stronger dollar tends to make assets pegged to the buck more expensive to buyers using other monetary units. US SPX, +0.05% meanwhile, looked set for a wobbly open. Before the mild uptick, “gold once again dipped for a time to a good $1,240 per ounce this morning, and as such, is nearing the technically important 200-day moving average, which runs just below this price level,” said Carsten Fritsch and the commodities team at Commerzbank, in a note. “The main factor weighing on its price is presumably the firmer US dollar after two members of the Federal Reserve-one being Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer-highlighted the risks of low interest rates in their speeches yesterday,” the analysts said.

Economic and interest-rate policy uncertainty will continue to hold sway over metals and currency trading. Last week, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen laid out a plan to shrink the central bank’s massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet, as the Fed also raised interest rates and Fed speakers this week have said little that indicates a roadblock to at least one more rate increase this year.

Meanwhile, July silver SIN7, -0.35% couldn’t latch on to gold’s gain. It fell 6 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.36 an ounce, while July copper HGN7, +1.21% rose 3 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.585 a pound. July platinum PLN7, -0.23% rose 80 cents, or 0.1%, to $922.30 an ounce, while September palladium PAU7, +0.75% rose $5.05, or 0.6%, to $872.20 an ounce.

Among the exchange-traded funds, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, -0.16% rose 0.1% premarket, while iShares Silver Trust SLV, -0.51% declined by 0.1%, and the VancEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, -0.41% lost 0.2%.

Published in Daily Times, June 22nd, 2017.