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Gold slips on Fed caution, Bernanke speech eyed
ecPulse
2013-06-19 06:34AM UTC
Gold prices slipped on Wednesday trading session for the third consecutive day ahead of the much anticipated Federal Reserve policy meeting decision due later in the day amid increasing speculations that the Fed may taper its stimulus program sooner than expected. As of (09:47 GMT+3), gold for immediate delivery fell 0.07% or 0.96 points on Wednesday to trade at $ 1,366.30 an ounce after opening at $1,367.72, having earlier hit a high of $1,370.14, and a low of $1,364.77. Precious-gold dropped on Wednesday, extending previous session’s losses as investors anticipated a steadying U.S. economy would persuade the Federal Reserve to end its bullion-friendly bond buying program. Other precious metals: - Silver fell 0.29% to trade around $ 21.64 - Platinum lost 0.55% to $ 1,432.05 - Palladium inched 0.01% down to $ 707.40 Gold prices have been pressured since April after Fed’s Chairman Ben Bernanke and other officials said the bank could scale back its $85 billion monthly buying of treasuries and mortgage debt. The central bank`s bond-buying programs have been a key support for metals prices in recent years, as investors bought the assets as a hedge against inflation. Any signs that the Fed will maintain quantitative easing is seen as positive for gold on the long-term – a hedge against inflation and currency weakness. However, if the Fed decided an earlier-than-expected end to the asset-buying program, gold would suffer as a result. The USDIX is currently trading around 80.82 after opening at 80.86, having so far hit a high of 80.89 and a low of 80.81. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world`s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.2 percent to 1,001.67 tons on Tuesday - their lowest in more than four years.
Merchandise Trade Balance in Japan
Fx News Today
2013-06-18 23:59PM UTC
Japanese Merchandise trade balance total came better-than-estimated in May, where the reading recorded an actual of -993.9 billion yen, compared with a previous reading of -879.9 billion yen, while analysts’ expectations were -1220.0 billion yen.
Current Account Balance in New Zealand
Fx News Today
2013-06-18 22:57PM UTC
The New Zealand economy released the Current Account Balance during the first quarter, where the actual reading showed a deficit of NZ$ 0.663 billion, compared to the expectations which refer to a deficit of NZ$ 0.635 billion. As for the previous reading it revised to show a deficit of NZ$ 3.232 billion after it was NZ$ 3.255 billion.