Gold Price Rallies Ahead Of Fed Talk, PMI

Washington (June 23)  Gold futures rose Friday morning as stock futures pointed to a weak open on Wall Street. August gold was up USD9.20 at USD1,258 an ounce, moving further from a 5-week low.

The precious metal has found its footing after recent losses. Gold was sold earlier in the week amid comments from Federal Reserve officials indicating a willingness to raise interest rates four more times by the end of next year.

However, the pace of the increases may prove more gradual as incoming economic data has been pointing to low inflation and sluggish jobs growth.

A weaker dollar also helped gold prices higher.

A preliminary reading on purchasing managers' indexes on manufacturing in June is due from Markit at 9:45 a.m., along with flash services PMI for the same month.

A number of Federal Reserve speeches are also on the docket. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard talks at 11:15 a.m., Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester at 12:45 p.m., followed at 2:15 p.m. by Fed Governor Jerome Powell's lecture.

Source: AllianceNews