Gold eased on Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields edged up from their lows while Wall Street also recouped some losses, but a weaker dollar and concerns over a U.S labor market recovery kept bullion near a three-weak peak.
· Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,799.18 per ounce by 2:12 p.m. ET.
· U.S. gold futures settled 0.1% lower at $1,800.20.
· The dollar index fell 0.3% and U.S. 10-year Treasury yields languished near a more than four-month trough, driving gold to a peak since June 17 at $1,818.10 earlier in the session.
Lower yields decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
· But since then, yields have edged higher from the lows and stocks have pared some losses, weighing on gold, said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.
But gold should remain supported as a safe-haven asset, especially given concerns over a U.S labor market recovery and the Delta coronavirus variant, Streible added.
· SPDR GOLD HOLDINGS:
· U.S jobless claims rose slightly last week to 373,000, above a forecast 350,000 applications in a Reuters poll.
· Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said the recent economic readings suggests substantial progress needs to be made for the Fed to raise interest rates, and that is supportive of gold.
U.S. Federal Reserve minutes from June 15-16 meeting showed “various participants” felt conditions for reducing the central bank’s asset purchases would be “met somewhat earlier than they had anticipated.”
· The Fed’s surprise hawkish tilt in June sent gold reeling 7%.
· Elsewhere, platinum was down 0.8% at $1,076.71.
· Palladium slipped 1.6% to $2,806.95 per ounce.
· Silver fell 0.8% to $25.92 am ounce.
· A Reuters poll expects the Fed to announce a strategy in August or September for tapering its asset purchases.
While most predict the first cut to its bond-buying program will begin early next year, about a third of respondents forecast it will happen in the final quarter of this year.
· Biden seeking to boost rail, sea shipping competition -White House
President Joe Biden will order U.S. transportation agencies to crack down on anti-competitive conduct and unjust fees in the rail and sea shipping industries to try to lower costs to consumers, the White House said on Thursday.
Biden will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. and sign an "executive order on promoting competition in the American economy," the administration said. The order is expected to include dozens of provisions to boost competition, officials said.
· China signals easier monetary policy, reviving worries about weaker growth
· China’s central bank is ‘quite worried’ about global risks from some digital currencies
· European Central Bank sets its inflation target at 2% in new policy review
· IMF sees Saudi growth at 2.4% this year with non-oil sector leading rebound
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday Saudi Arabia’s economy is recovering well from the COVID-19 pandemic and the fund expected the non-oil economy to grow by 4.3% this year, with overall GDP growth seen at 2.4%.
· Global energy crises pale in comparison to the year of Covid, BP chief economist says
Spencer Dale, chief economist at BP, discusses the findings of the oil and gas giant’s benchmark Statistical Review of World Energy.
· Covid-19 has destroyed 22 million jobs in advanced countries, says OECD
· Pfizer to ask FDA to authorize booster dose of COVID vaccine as Delta variant spreads
· U.S. COVID-19 cases rising, mostly among unvaccinated - officials
Around 93% of COVID-19 cases in recent days have occurred in counties with vaccination rates of less than 40%, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky told a media briefing.
· S.Korea raises Seoul COVID-19 curbs to top level, new cases set 2nd straight national record
· Olympics will ban spectators after Japan declares state of emergency
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Worldometers
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