Gold futures declined on Wednesday as market participants awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and as bitcoin, one of gold’s biggest rivals as a safe haven, hit a fresh record ahead of the hotly anticipated debut of cryptoplatform Coinbase Global on the Nasdaq.
Naeem Aslam, analyst at AvaTrade, says that gold is still maintaining an upward momentum as concerns about the Federal Reserve dialing back accommodative policies are overblown, pointing to a regime of lower interest rates for longer that would benefit bullion.
“The Fed has assured investors and traders that they aren’t going to change the sailing path of their monetary policy, and further clarification of this is going to come when Jerome Powell speaks later today,” Aslam wrote.
Powell is expected to speak at the Economic Club of Washington at noon Eastern Time.
June gold traded off $11.90, or 0.7%, at $1,735.70 an ounce on Comex.
May silver shed 7 cents, or 0.3%, to trade at $25.36 an ounce.
“The precious metals at mid-week are experiencing the crosscurrents of a weaker U.S. dollar index that is supportive, but higher U.S. stock indexes that are bearish,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com.
Gold prices pulled back after posting a gain Tuesday, when data showing U.S. consumer prices in March rose for the fourth month in a row boosted the metal’s appeal as a hedge against inflation.
Gold’s moves on Wednesday come as bitcoin touched a record near $65,000, with the digital asset seen by some as a competitor to gold and perhaps drawing some flows away from the haven asset. The rally in bitcoin comes as Coinbase Global, will begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “COIN.” The digital platform was given a reference price of $250 a share late on Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, among other metals traded on Comex Wednesday, May copper tacked on 1.5% to $4.09 a pound, with prices headed up for a second session.
July platinum also rose 1.7% to $1,176.80 an ounce, but June palladium shed 0.5% to $2,684.50 an ounce.
Source: Marketwatch