Gold futures declined for the fifth time in six sessions on its way to a six-week low amid continued hawkish Fed rhetoric, which has led to renewed dollar strength.
Gold for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was last down $11.50 or 0.9 percent to $1,315.60 per ounce. Earlier, the precious metal touched $1,314.90, the lowest since July 26.
Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer ignited a dollar rally this morning by saying that the US is “very close to full employment”. The greenback was last at a two-week high of 96.08 against a basket of leading currencies.
“Firmer dollar sentiment continues to create short-term pressure for gold,” James Moore, research analyst at FastMarkets, said. “But dip-buying interest among speculators continues to signal bullish sentiment and reflects the broader landscape of low/negative real interest rates alongside economic and geopolitical uncertainties.”
A lack of liquidity and lack of fresh catalysts have resulted in thin trading conditions and an investment community tethered to any chatter from Fed officials.
Markets will await Friday’s US employment data to gauge the direction of asset prices before the start of the holiday weekend – economic consensus is for 186,000 jobs to have been added.
“Not only the Fed, but also the markets, remain in thrall to US economic data for a while to come,” David Govett of Marex Spectron said. “Every figure will be scrutinized for a clue on rate rise timing and every Fed speaker will be closely followed for the same reason.”
“Forget normal fundamentals, forget technicals, forget most things that all of us are used to watching for clues. Just watch the data out of the US and all the headlines that go with it,” he added.
Fund positioning remains robust with exchange-traded-funds tracked by FastMarkets inched up 0.54 tonnes to a total of 2,116 tonnes – near the highest point since June 2013.
Turning to US equities, the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P were down 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, while the dollar gained 0.6 percent to $1.1135 against the euro.
As for other precious metals, Comex silver for September delivery fell 17.8 cents or one percent to $18.590 per ounce. Trade has ranged from $18.550 to $18.940.
Platinum for October settlement tumbled $25.20 or 2.3 percent to $1,055.90 per ounce, while the most active palladium contract stood at $677.70 per ounce, down $19.60.
(Editing by Tom Jennemann)
The post Gold tumbles to fresh low, jobs data eyes appeared first on The Bullion Desk.
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Source: Bullion Desk News
