Gold Price Steady, Eyes Upcoming Euro Meetings, Fed Minutes
July 9 (IBT Times) — The gold price held steady near $1,585 per ounce on Monday as the yellow metal consolidated following last week’s 0.9% decline. The price of gold stabilized alongside the U.S. Dollar Index this morning, which inched lower by 0.1% to 83.292. In recent weeks, gold prices have fallen back toward the midpoint of the $1,540-$1,620 trading range that they have occupied since early May.
Last Friday the gold price fell over $20 despite the worse than expected U.S. employment report. While the non-farm payrolls data came in below economists’ estimates, the general consensus among investors was that the jobs report was not disappointing enough to meaningfully increase the odds of a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) by the Federal Reserve.
While the United States’ central bank may not be implementing further easing measures in the near future, several others around the world announced additional monetary stimulus programs last week. This past Thursday, the Peoples’ Bank of China (PBOC) unexpectedly cut interest rates, the Bank of England expanded its quantitative easing program by 50 billion pounds, and the European Central Bank (ECB) reduced its benchmark interest rate to a new record-low of 0.75%.
Looking to the week ahead, the U.S. economic calendar is relatively light, but does include a few key items. The Fed minutes – a recap of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting – will be released on Wednesday afternoon, followed by weekly jobless claims on Thursday. The week then concludes on Friday with reports on the Producer Price Index (PPI) and University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.
