The gold price stayed supported during Asian trading hours on Wednesday as the market waited for minutes from the US July FOMC meeting due later today.
Spot gold was last at $1,118/1,118.4 per ounce, up $0.7 on Tuesday’s close. Trading has ranged from $1,116.3-1,118.5 so far.
The minutes from the July FOMC meeting is expected to provide some final clues ahead of the Fed’s highly anticipated September meeting.
Tonight’s FOMC Minutes are likely to provide contrasting tones around the FOMC’s two key objectives – full employment and price stability, said ANZ Research in a morning note on Wednesday.
The July FOMC statement was upbeat on the domestic economy, particularly labour and housing market conditions. “The discussion around employment will be pertinent given that the Statement suggested that the labour market was getting close to the Fed’s full employment mandate,” it said.
However, at the same time, the FOMC seemed more circumspect on inflation in July, possibly due to the renewed weakness in oil prices. “Thus the discussion around price trends could be insightful. The renewed weakness in energy prices could provide the Fed with some extra time to watch how domestic prices evolve in response to an ever tighter labour market,” it added.
Gold had a volatile session earlier on following improved US new housing data. But the metal is still largely seen as a safe haven amid concerns over China’s slowing economic growth, said market watchers.
In equities, the Shanghai Stock Exchange composite index continued to take a beating this morning, falling 3.43 percent to 3,619.669 on Wednesday morning. The index lost six percent in a day on Tuesday after data from China showed higher Chinese residential property prices, dimming the prospects of further monetary stimulus from the Chinese government.
In other precious metals, silver was at $14.87/14.92 per ounce, up $0.04. Platinum was at $987/992, down $2, while palladium was flat at $592/598.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for December delivery was unchanged at 232.55 yuan per gram, while December silver was flat at 3,397 yuan per kilogram on Wednesday morning.
The post Gold supported, waits for FOMC minutes appeared first on The Bullion Desk.
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