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Gold climbs on weaker dollar and Fed`s Bullard comments on stimulus
ecPulse
2013-05-23 15:45PM UTC
Gold prices rose Thursday as after a drop in U.S. dollar and as a senior Federal Reserve official said the central bank is in no hurry to start winding down its economic stimulus. Spot gold rose 0.8 percent to $1379.38 per ounce by 11:40 ET, after losing more than 1 percent yesterday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at a possible withdrawal to the banks bond-buying program in the “next few meetings.” Spot gold opened at $1368.53 per ounce, and earlier hit a high of $1398.14, and a low of $1356.59 per ounce. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis James Bullard said he did not think the Fed was "that close" to starting the process of winding down its support after Wednesday`s comments by chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at it. The dollar index fell around 0.7 percent against a basket of currencies, mostly due to a two-week high in the yen and ignoring data showing the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. The Dollar index was last at 83.90. Gold also gained support from lower European shares, which fell on concerns over an end to quantitative easing in the United States and weak economic data from China and Europe. A euro zone purchasing managers` index showed that while the slump in business activity eased slightly in May, it pointed to a further contraction in the second quarter. The flash HSBC purchasing managers` survey showed Chinese factory activity shrank in May for the first time in seven months.
Crude plunged faintly in New York
Fx News Today
2013-05-23 16:21PM UTC
We watched today the black gold plunge slightly in New York as fears are spread within the energy market after that manufacturing in China shrank and U.S. gasoline stockpiles increased to watch crude so far trade around $93.55 a barrel recording a high of $94.08 a barrel and a low of $92.20 a barrel In fact China’s Purchasing Managers Index dropped to 49.6 for May, the least since October and below estimates, keeping in mind that this is second top oil consumer country while that gasoline inventories rose 3 million barrels last week. Plus pessimism remain spread since yesterday after that the minutes from the latest U.S. Fed monetary policy meeting showed some members open to an early tapering to the unprecedented bond-buying program. The minutes came in the wake of comments earlier in the session by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the Fed could scale back the pace of its bond purchases at one of the "next few meetings" if the economic recovery looked set to maintain forward momentum.
U.S. natural gas inventories rise in line with estimates, EIA says
Fx News Today
2013-05-23 14:34PM UTC
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) published its weekly update for the change in natural gas inventories in the U.S.
The report showed inventories increase by 89 billion cubic feet (BCF) in the week-ended May 17, slightly below estimates at 92 BCF, from an increase by 99 BCF in the prior week.
