GNCC Capital Inc (GNCP)

[place_your_bets]

GNCP-GOLD- Gold ends higher for a 2nd session, slips in electronic trade after Fed minutes

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-tries-to-edge-higher-as-dollar-slips-2018-07-05

Published: July 5, 2018




Gold futures settled with a gain on Thursday, finding support from some weakness in the U.S. dollar, but prices for the metal then eased back following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting.

August gold GCQ8, +0.33% rose $5.30 or 0.4%, to settle at $1,258.80 an ounce—the highest finish since June 26, according to FactSet data. The move follows a 1% Tuesday rebound that helped the yellow metal claw back some losses that drove futures to the lowest levels of 2018. For the week, bullion prices traded 0.6% higher. The most popular fund tracking gold, the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +0.34% meanwhile, was up about 0.3% this week.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting, released after the Comex settlement, offered no inclination to pause plans for further interest-rate hikes, and gold edged down from its settlement level to around $1,257 in electronic trading.

Thursday’s action comes as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.75% and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.86% moved higher.

Equities often trade inversely to gold, with stock benchmarks rising even as a Chinese official warned earlier Thursday that planned U.S. tariffs on Chinese products—a portion of which is set to take effect in less than 24 hours—could potentially ripple throughout the globe.

But “the U.S. is firing shots to the world, including to itself,” said Gao Feng, a spokesman for China’s Commerce Ministry.

In Europe, which saw the Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.41% also climb, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country was willing to cut import tariffs on cars as a way to end the Europe-U.S. trade standoff.

Concerns about fraying relationships between the U.S. and its longstanding trade partners in the European Union, North American and China, have helped strengthen the dollar and have weighed on commodities priced in the monetary unit, including bullion.

Those disputes, notably between the two largest economies, Beijing and the U.S., have rattled investors, and weighed on both equities and gold, the latter of which ordinarily would benefit from the uncertainty fostered by the dispute over global trade imbalances.

Read: EU may try to broker international deal to cut auto tariffs, ease trade war

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.12% has gained 2.5% so far this year. However, the gauge, which measures the buck against a half-dozen currencies, was down about 0.2% Thursday.

A stronger dollar makes assets pegged to the currency more expensive to buyers using other monetary units. Accordingly, a weaker greenback tends to have the opposite effect.

Gold demand also has been hurt by the fear that a trade spat may hurt Beijing’s economy, which already has shown signs of decelerating in recent months. China is one of the world’s biggest buyers in metals including gold.

“While the yellow metal has scope to appreciate further amid a softening dollar, the outlook remains bearish in the medium to longer term. This year, gold is still at risk to losing more value on the outlook that the dollar could strengthen further,” wrote Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, in a Thursday note.

Meanwhile, September silver SIU8, +0.17% gained 0.3% to $16.097 an ounce. Silver was set to shed 0.9% for the week. The most popular exchange-traded fund that tracks silver, the iShares Silver Trust SLV, +0.47% was down nearly 0.6% so far this week.

Among U.S. economic data, a report on private-sector employment showed that the labor market was solid in June, as employers added 177,000 jobs, Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported Thursday. However, the reading was lower than consensus estimates for 190,000 from economists polled by Econoday. Initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 in the latest week, above what analysts had expected, although they remained near multidecade lows.

The latest readings of the job market came ahead of Friday’s important nonfarm-payrolls report for June.

Separately, the U.S. ISM services index rose in June to 59.1 from 58.6, as most American companies saw a pickup in business. A reading of 50 or better indicates improving conditions.

Rounding out action Comex, September copper HGU8, -2.97% settled at $2.826 a pound, down 3.1%. October platinum PLV8, -0.31% shed 0.6% to $841.40 an ounce and September PAU8, +0.55% rose by 0.5% to $942.70 an ounce.


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-tries-to-edge-higher-as-dollar-slips-2018-07-05