After trading modestly higher over the past two days, gold weakened on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar found its footing following a brief pullback.
Price action
-
Gold futures
GCQ22,
-0.08% GC00,
-0.08%
for August delivery were down $4.50, or 0.3%, to $1,706. -
Silver futures
SIU22,
+0.30% SI00,
+0.30%
for September delivery were down modestly at $18.69 per ounce. -
Platinum
PLV22,
-0.13%
for October delivery was up $3.30, or 0.4%, at $862, while Palladium
PAU22,
+0.53%
for September delivery was off slightly at $1,854. -
Copper
HGU22,
+1.41%
for September delivery rose 6 cents, or 1.8%, to $3.35 per pound.
What analysts are saying
The dollar’s retreat against the euro has helped ease the pressure on gold, but still, the outlook for metals remains bearish as the uptrend for the dollar
EURUSD,
and for Treasury yields, remain intact.
A team of currency analysts at ING said the greenback’s retreat was inspired by a recovery in risk sentiment which helped U.S. stocks achieve their strongest daily gain in a month, while small cap stocks notched their best day in 18 months.
“Our view is that even if the dollar did bottom out in the past week, the path to a sustained depreciation remains challenging, and would most likely be very gradual from this point on,” the team wrote.
The big question now is whether gold can hold above $1,700 after the yellow metal declined for five straight weeks through Friday.
