Gold slightly down on position evening ahead of FOMC

NEW YORK (December 16) Gold prices are down a bit and silver prices up a bit in quieter midday U.S. trading Monday. The two metals have not strayed too far from unchanged price levels on the day, amid position-squaring ahead of the U.S. data point of the week: the FOMC meeting of the Federal Reserve that begins Tuesday morning and ends Wednesday afternoon with a statement and then a press conference from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Fed is widely expected to do a 0.25% interest rate cut. February gold was last down $3.80 at $2,671.90 and March silver was up $0.087 at $31.115.

Goldman Sachs no longer sees another Federal Reserve interest rate cut in January and the investment bank expects Powell to deliver that message at this week’s FOMC statement and Powell’s press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Bitcoin rose to a record high above $106,000 by ongoing optimism over President-elect Trump’s support for crypto currencies. This element could be pulling away some investor buying interest in the precious metals.

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index weaker. Nymex crude oil futures prices are modestly lower and trading around $70.75 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently around 4.37%.

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