The spot gold price was quoted at $1279.65-1279.95 per oz, down by $2.00 as of 12:00pm Shanghai time. Trade has ranged from $1278.95-1282.45 so far today.
- Gold prices drifted lower in a narrow range on Wednesday morning with investors focused on FOMC’s November meeting minutes – hoping for some cues on the US central bank’s outlook for monetary policy.
- Despite an increase in US interest rates widely expected in December, investors remain cautious on just how aggressive the FOMC will be with future rate increases.
- Market participants see a 91.5% chance of the target rate rising to 125-150 basis points (bps) and 8.5% chance of increase to 150-175 bps during the US Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting on December 13, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
- “The FOMC minutes this evening are expected to be a non-event with no new insights into the committee’s thinking, and with a US holiday thinned second half of the week, hopes for a breakout of gold’s one-month trading range continue to fade,” Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, said on Wednesday.
Silver, PGMs
- In the other precious metals, the spot silver price was down by $0.015 to $16.950-16.970 per oz.
- Platinum was $1 lower at $928-933 per oz, while palladium increased $2 to $999.5-$1,004 per oz.
- On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for June delivery was at 279.70 yuan ($42.20) per gram, and the December silver was 3,984 yuan per kg.
Currency moves and data releases
- The dollar index was unchanged at 93.94 as of 12:00pm Shanghai time.
- In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price was up by 0.46% to $63.03 per barrel, and the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price increased by 1.19% to $57.72.
- In equities, the Shanghai Composite was up by 0.5% to 3,427.66.
- In data today, we have the United Kingdom’s autumn forecast statement, the European Union’s consumer confidence and a raft of US data including core durable goods orders, unemployment claims, revised University of Michigan consumer sentiment and inflation expectations and crude oil inventories.