Gold has steadied in the Friday session, after posting strong gains on Thursday. Currently, the spot price for one ounce of gold is $1306.01, up 0.09% on the day. On the release front, it’s a busy day. The focus is on durable goods reports, with expectations of mixed results. Core durable goods orders is expected to climb to 0.5%, but the markets are braced for a decline of 1.3% from durable good orders. If the indicator posts a sharp drop, gold prices could respond with gains. The US will also release UoM Consumer Sentiment, is expected to remain unchanged at 98.8 points.
Gold prices slipped 0.09% on Thursday, following reports that the summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had been canceled. Trump sent a letter to Kim, saying that he could not go ahead with the meeting, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, after particularly harsh comments by the North Korean leader. For his part, Pyongyang was restrained in its response, saying that it still looked forward to resolving outstanding issues with the US. Rising tensions between the US and North Korea have rattled investors in recent months, boosting gold, which is a traditional safe-haven in times of crisis. If tensions worsen between the US and North Korea, investor risk appetite could wane and gold could be the big winner.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its May meeting. In the minutes, some Fed policymakers said they favored removing the phrase that “the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative”. Not surprisingly, the minutes didn’t shed light on the Fed’s plans, saying that another rate hike would occur “soon”, on the assumption that the US economy continues to perform as expected. Still, a quarter-point rate hike in August is virtually a given, with the CME Group setting the odds of a hike at 95 percent. This would mark a second hike in 2018. After that? The Fed projection remains at three rates hikes in 2018, but some analysts are predicting four increases this year.
