BULLION LATEST 29/09: Gold recovers but remains below $1,290/oz

The spot gold price was quoted at $1,284.35-1,284.75 per oz as of 04:56 BST, down $2.65 on the previous session’s close. Trade has ranged from $1,283.93-1,287.90 so far today. The price had dipped as low as $1,277.85 on Thursday, the lowest since August 25.

• The lack of further details on recent tax reform plans proposed by US president Donald Trump has put a lid on the US dollar’s recent climb. On Wednesday, Trump had announced a tax reform plan which included cutting corporate tax to 20% from 35% and also tax cuts for individuals.
• The increased possibility of a US rate increase at the end of the year is expected to continue providing support to the dollar, some market observers noted.
• “Going forward one might expect further media examination of the pending timing gap between the [US Federal Reserve] raising rates and the implementation of Trump’s proposed tax reform policies, leading to some market caution,” John Browning, md at Bands Financial, said.

Silver, PGMs

• In the other precious metals, the spot silver price fell $0.02 to $16.82-16.84 per oz. Platinum increased $2 to $920-925 per oz while palladium was up $10 at $936-941 per oz.
• On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for December delivery was recently at 278.50 yuan ($41.80) per gram, and the December silver was at 3,873 yuan per kg.

Currency moves and data releases

• The dollar index was up 0.05% to 93.20 as of 04:54 BST. It has eased after reaching as high as 93.67 on Thursday, the highest since August 18.
• In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price rose 0.12% to $57.27 per barrel as of 03:39 BST.
• In equities, the Shanghai Composite index was recently 0.25% higher at 3,348.14.
• In US data on Thursday, final GDP for the second quarter came in at 3.1%, above the forecast of 3.0%. The GDP price index was as forecast at 1.0% while weekly unemployment claims at 272,000 were slightly above the expected 269,000. The goods trade balance at the end of August was -$62.9 billion, while preliminary wholesale inventories rose 1.0%.
• Economic data due later today includes core PCE price index, personal spending, Chicago purchasing managers’ index (PMI), and revised University of Michigan consumer sentiment from the USA. China’s official manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI, and Caixin manufacturing PMI for September, due on Saturday, will also be of note.
• In addition, Bank of England governor Mark Carney and US Federal Open Market Committee member Patrick Harker is speaking later today.