Stock Market Watch

Gold Prices Inch Up, Silver Prices Also Gain

by ·


Gold prices tacked higher during Asian trading hours on Wednesday but the gains are likely to remain capped as ambiguity over when the Federal Reserve might eventually start to taper its quantitative easing will keep investors in sidelines.

At last check, gold futures for December delivery inched up 0.09% to $1,321.70 an ounce while spot gold added 0.17% to $1,323.00 an ounce.

Silver futures gained 0.64% to $21.48 an ounce.

The Fed’s next open market committee meeting (FOMC) is scheduled on September 17 -18 and bullion investors will keep a close eye on the upcoming U.S. economic data releases to gauge the state of the health of the U.S. economy. Several policymakers said last week that the winding down of economic stimulating measures could start in any of this year’s remaining three FOMCs, should the macroeconomic environment keeps improving.

However, the data releases in the recent past have been inconclusive to decide when exactly the tapering could start.

Earlier on Tuesday the retail sales data for July was tepid. While core retail sales were strong, overall retail sales grew at a slower-than-expected rate.

“What would be extremely welcome is some clarity…And I think September would be the ideal time to provide clarity. Some market expectations are shifting towards a December tapering,” said Dominic Schnider, an analyst at UBS Wealth Management in Singapore, according to Reuters.

On Tuesday, the Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said that economic data releases in the recent past have been uneven; as a result, it was difficult to predict exactly when the Fed could start pulling back the pace of asset purchases.

The metal plunged about 1% on Tuesday as stronger dollar and reports that the Indian government has raised import duties on gold for the third time in last eight months, weighed on the sentiment.








More Posts by this author

edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

You may also like...