Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,299.30 per ounce at 0339 GMT.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery were 0.1 percent higher at $1,303.40 per ounce.
· The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 93.495.
· “The market opened predictably quiet ahead of the abundance of risk events this week and wholly ignored President Trump going rogue at the G7,” Stephen Innes, APAC trading head at OANDA said, adding that with geopolitical risk moderating, it will be the FED and ECB that will guide gold’s near-term fate.
· The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) starts its two-day meeting on Tuesday, where it is anticipated to raise U.S. interest rates. The European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan’s policy meetings are also due this week.
· Markets are also keeping a close eye on the historic summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday.
· Gold is trading in a very tight range and people are waiting for the next move, a Hong Kong-based trader said.
“We have the FOMC coming up and the Trump meeting with Kim Jong Un, so the markets are just watching what’s going on. If there’s a better risk aversion money will fly into gold.”
· Speculators cut their net long position in COMEX gold by 3,169 contracts to 58,066 contracts in the week to June 5, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed on Friday.
· Silver gained 0.9 percent at $16.89 an ounce, after hitting a seven-week high of $16.93 earlier in the session. The metal was up 2.3 percent last week, also its biggest weekly percentage rise in seven-weeks.
.png)
· Charlie Nedoss, senior market strategist with LaSalle Futures Group, looks for a down-and-up week, with the precious metal ultimately finishing higher than where it leaves off this week. He looks for the usual “knee-jerk” market reactions around the Fed meeting but adds that policymakers typically have telegraphed their intentions ahead of time. Any price break lower may end up as a buying opportunity, he added.
“We’re at a key point,” Nedoss said. “We’re sitting right on the 10-day and 20-day moving averages….I look for weakness into the Fed, but after the Fed, I’m looking for support.”
· George Gero, managing director with RBC Wealth Management, figures gold may rally since a Fed rate hike is already factored into prices, thus the dollar may weaken.
“The rate hike is priced in. Most of the negatives are priced in,” Gero said. “It’s all about the U.S. dollar.”
· Jim Wyckoff, senior technical analyst with Kitco, who sees steady to higher prices, commented that a “price downtrend on the daily chart has been negated this week.”
· Meanwhile, Ralph Preston, principal with Heritage West Financial, looks for gold to fall due to a muscular U.S. currency.
“Gold’s recent price action is like watching paint dry – boring,” Preston said. “As mentioned before, we may see a pop higher on a geopolitical event. However, I do not see prices holding onto any significant gains in the face of a strengthening U.S. dollar.”
· Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, is also bearish on gold prices for next week.
“The U.S. dollar continues to climb heading into the Fed meeting later this month where the FOMC is expected to raise interest rates again,” he said. “Meanwhile, it looks like [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s summit with [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un is on, which could ease political tensions in Asia. The addition of a headwind from the dollar and the removal of a tailwind from political risk could keep gold on the back foot in the coming days.”
Reference: Reuters, Kitco
Thai
Eng