BULLION LATEST 07/12: Gold price little changed, continues to be pressured by firmer dollar

The spot gold price was quoted at $1,263.60-1,263.90 per oz as of 11.22am Shanghai time, down by $0.10 from the previous session’s close. Trade has ranged from $1,262.10-1,264.15 so far.

• “Investors continued to shun gold as they look to stronger equity markets amid the new tax plan in the [United States],” ANZ Research said.
• The Nasdaq advanced 14.16 points overnight, though the Dow Jones fell 39.73 points.
• Meanwhile, a firmer dollar ahead of the upcoming US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, at which members are widely expected to raise US interest rates, is also pressuring the yellow metal.
• The dollar index was up by 0.04% to 93.56 as of 11.22am Shanghai time. On Wednesday, the index had reached a high of 93.65 – its highest since November 23.
• “Gold hovered near weekly lows… as the USD index bounced up firmer as tensions increased in the aftermath of US President Trump declaring Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” Commerzbank said.
• “The market is also cautious leading into this month’s FOMC meeting, where the Fed is expected to raise rates once again,” ANZ Research said.
• “While it is still too soon to suggest a significant sell-off is on the cards, the charts do imply that gold may well be about to break out of its three-month trading range,” Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda, said on Thursday.

Silver, PGMs

• In the other precious metals, the spot silver price dropped by $0.007 to $15.955-16.100 per oz. Platinum gained $1 to $899-904 per oz and palladium was up by $4 at $996-1,001 per oz.
• On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, gold for June delivery was recently at 275.4 yuan ($41.64) per gram, and the June silver was at 3,777 yuan per kg.

Currency moves and data releases

• The dollar index was up by 0.04% as of 11.22am Shanghai time.
• In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price rose by 0.28% to $61.36 per barrel as of 10.16am Shanghai time, while the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price inched up by 0.04% at $56.08.
• In equities, the Shanghai Composite was down by 0.51% to 3,277.03.
• In data on Wednesday, the US ADP employment report showed 190,000 Americans joined the labor market in November. The revised non-farm productivity and unit labor costs during the third quarter grew 3% and fell 0.2% respectively.
• The economic agenda is fairly light today with the UK’s Halifax house price index and unemployment claims from the United States of note.
• In addition, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi is speaking.