Gold Price Pares Losses After Fed Minutes

New York (Aug 17)  Gold prices pared losses on Wednesday, after mixed signals in the Federal Reserve meeting minutes did little to change skepticism over the possibility of an imminent rate increase.

Gold for December delivery was recently down 0.3% at $1,353.50 a troy ounce in electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. After an initial selloff that took prices as low as $1,340.50 an ounce, gold recovered as traders shrugged off any signs that the central bank will raise rates sooner than expected.

"The markets are definitely confused," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. However, the recovery in gold prices showed that traders still don't expect the Fed to raise interest rates in the next few months, he said.

Traders have noted that gold prices seem to be stuck in a price range in recent weeks as the market awaits further clues on whether the Fed will raise rates. This has placed increased importance on Fed speeches, meetings and minute releases.

Still, many analysts say that the global picture for gold is still positive, with the economic uncertainty following Brexit and monetary easing from central banks around the world.

"We're moving from Fed event to Fed event with the gold market," Mr. Haberkorn said. "As they continue to send out different signals, gold will continue to trade higher."

Source: NASDAQ