Gold on back foot as dollar firms; traders await U.S. data
· Gold was subdued on Thursday, as a stronger dollar made bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies, while investors digested mixed signals from Federal Reserve officials on rate hike and awaited more U.S. data to gauge inflationary pressures.
· Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,774.96 per ounce, as of 0251 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,776.10.
· The dollar index held firm below an 11-week high against its rivals.
· “With a lack of clear direction and contradictory themes coming from Fed officials and the news headlines, expect gold to continue its choppy range-bound trading,” Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA said.
· “The market remains nervous about earlier lift-off entrenched inflation type headlines and so gold will remain a sell on rallies into the end of the week.”
· Two Fed officials on Wednesday said that a period of high inflation in the United States may last longer than anticipated, a day after Fed Chair Jerome Powell downplayed inflation worries and signaled interest rates would not be hiked too quickly.
· However, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic expects interest rates will need to rise in late 2022 as inflation is well above Fed’s 2% target.
· Investor focus has now shifted to U.S. producer price inflation data due on Friday, apart from jobless claims expected later in the day. U.S. non-farm payrolls are due next week.
· Spot gold is biased to downside and may test a support at $1,769 per ounce, a break below which could open the way towards the range of $1,734-$1,744 range, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
· Copper prices fall on firm dollar, supply pressure
A firm dollar, which has been hovering around an 11-week high, makes greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies, while a rate hike could dampen liquidity into metals and slow a global economic recovery.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.1% to $9,379.50 a tonne by 0712 GMT, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 0.3% to 68,350 yuan ($10,560.88) a tonne, tracking overnight gains in London.
· Silver was steady at $25.87 per ounce, palladium was flat at $2,613.16. Platinum eased 0.3% to $1,080.56.
· New York’s state of emergency will end Thursday. Booze to go will end along with it.
New York’s state of emergency will end on Thursday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Wednesday. And with it will depart the freedom restaurants and bars have had to deliver and sell alcoholic beverages to go.
· BOJ's Kuroda says supporting climate efforts will help economy
· Australia to phase out AstraZeneca vaccine from October
· New troubles for Thai leader amid virus surge, fresh protests
A year after the start of student-led protests against Thailand's military-backed government, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is facing growing anger amid a mounting wave of coronavirus infections and a dismal economy.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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