Gold Prices Lower on Shifting Policy Outlook- FOMC Minutes, NFP on Tap
New York (July 2) Gold prices were down this week with the precious metal off by 0.98% to trade at 1243 ahead of the New York close on Friday. The losses come alongside weakness in broader equity markets with all three major US indices flat / lower on the week. However, with concerns over a broader shift in the tone of global central bankers and growing doubts regarding the future of fiscal policy, gold is caught between a rock and hard place with the technical outlook also highlighting a near-term consolidation range.
Rhetoric from the FOMC, ECB, BoE & BOC continued to weigh bullion as concerns mounted that global central banks are becoming more inclined to scale back on their accommodative policy stance. The result has fueled a sell-off in bonds (rally in yields), putting pressure on non-yielding assets like gold.
Highlighting the economic docket next week are the U.S. ISM figures, FOMC minutes and the June Non-Farm Payrolls report. With the Fed looking to begin offloading its massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet, U.S. data will need to continue to perform – as it stands markets are pricing just a 54% chance the central bank will hike in December. For gold, the outlook heading into the monthly open remains precarious with the decline now approaching broader up-trend support as sentiment begins to level off.
Gold Prices Lower on Shifting Policy Outlook- FOMC Minutes, NFP on Tap • A summary of IG Client Sentimentshows traders are net-long Gold - the ratio stands at +4.4 (81.5% of traders are long)- bearishreading
• Long positions are 6.1% higher than yesterday but 2.9% lower from last week
• Short positions are 4.7% lower than yesterday but 7.7% higher from last week
• While broader retail sentiment continues to point lower, positioning is more net-long than yesterday but less net-long from last week. The combination of current sentiment and recent changes gives us a mixed trading bias and highlights the risk for near-term exhaustion on the downside.
Gold Weekly
Gold Prices Lower on Shifting Policy Outlook- FOMC Minutes, NFP on Tap
Earlier this month we noted that, “Gold prices have were unable to make a weekly close above key resistance at 1278 yet again this month, with the pullback now eyeing weekly support 1242 -backed closely by a basic trendline extending off the late-January low.” We are testing that support region now.
Source: DailyFX
