Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 8/26/2016

Jennifer Carter

8/26/2016 9:15:00 AM

GOLD UP AHEAD OF FED SPEECH; LACK OF RATE INCREASE COULD BE HURTING ECONOMY

Spot Gold is up Friday ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech.  Investors are waiting to see if interest rates increase and today’s speech could be a good indicator. Gold has fallen steadily since the last U.S. job report came out. If there is no decisive news Friday, Gold could remain caught in its recent range between $1,310 and $1,375 per ounce. "We'll have to see whether Yellen deviates from the consensus view, which is that she'll say nothing, really, to alter the status quo," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said. "Gold is treading water right now and is unlikely to see too much action. (We would need) volatility in the currency markets or the rate markets to provide some trading incentives for Gold." The yellow metal was further unchanged by the dollar holding steady this week. Silver was up 1.1 percent Friday after hitting an eight-week low of $18.46 per ounce Thursday.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard thinks interest rates should be raised, but doesn’t think it will happen in the next two years and believes the lack of urgency in a rate increase is damaging our economy. “I think that it is hurting our credibility. By the end of this year, we’ll be two years into the process since [quantitative easing] ended, maybe have moved twice at this point. So I think that is affecting global pricing. You’ve got this policy divergence story that has been in FX markets for a long time here. … We want to line that up better with a more realistic assessment of what is going to happen over the forecast horizon,” Bullard said.

At 09:15 A.M. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,331.60 Up $7.60
• Silver, $18.75 Up $0.18
• Platinum, $1,079.20 Up $4.70
• Palladium,$693.90 Up $7.40

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