Gold slips in early morning trading after Tuesday’s advance as investors awaited the release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July meeting. U.S. equity futures rose and Treasury yields jumped, reducing a bit of gold’s luster as a hedge against uncertainty.
December futures increased 0.3% Tuesday to settle at $1,515.70 an ounce on Comex. But prices remain down for the week after a 0.8% drop on Monday. Currently, the December contracts are at $1510.80, down $4.90.
Speculation is increasing over whether the Fed will follow July’s first interest-rate reduction in a decade with another in September – and how large it may be. The CME FedWatch Tool put the odds of a Sept. 18 rate cut at 98.1% early Wednesday, with the same percentage projecting a 25-basis-point reduction. Expectations of a rate cut had been at 100% since the meeting last month. The tool put the likelihood of no rate reduction at 1.9%. Continue reading →