Gold price near steady, silver down on profit taking
NEW YORK (January 27) Gold prices are trading near unchanged in early U.S. trading Tuesday, while the silver market is lower. Both markets are seeing some profit taking from the shorter-term futures traders after prices Monday hit record highs. April gold was last up $1.30 at $5,122.90. March silver prices were down $3.829 at $111.70.
FOMC meeting on deck; no change in U.S. rates expected. The Federal Reserve’s two-day Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting begins this morning and ends early Wednesday afternoon with a statement and press conference from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The FOMC is expected to keep U.S. monetary policy unchanged. However, as always, the FOMC statement and Powell’s remarks at his presser will be very closely parsed by the marketplace for any clues regarding the trajectory of monetary policy in the coming months, including Fed officials’ takes on inflation.
Another U.S. government shutdown looms. U.S. Senate Democrats and Republicans are hurtling toward another federal government shutdown after a Senate Democrat revolt against funding the Department of Homeland Security without new protocols, amid the turmoil in Minneapolis at present. “A shutdown could have widespread effects, from potential delays at the Internal Revenue Service as tax season starts to delays in producing key government economic data, but would have little practical effect on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. Senate Republicans are signaling they’ll resist Democrats’ demands for restraints on ICE and Border Patrol, such as warrant requirements and a body camera mandate, and plan to reject Democratic demands to split off DHS funding from the larger spending package,” said a Bloomberg report.
European Union, India reach free-trade agreement. The European Union and India concluded a free-trade agreement after almost two decades of negotiations, part of an effort to deepen economic ties that has gained momentum amid the Trump administration’s tariff policies. “We have concluded the mother of all deals,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today in a social-media post and as reported by Bloomberg. She was in New Delhi to mark the moment with European Council President Antonio Costa and added that the accord “created a free trade zone of 2 billion people, with both sides set to benefit.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the agreement as a means of strengthening India’s manufacturing and services sectors while boosting investor confidence in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Trump threatens more tariffs on South Korea. President Trump threatened to hike tariffs on goods imported from South Korea to 25%, citing the failure of the country's legislature to codify the current trade deal with the U.S. The new rate would apply to autos, lumber, pharmaceutical products and all other reciprocal tariffs, under which the president set a 15% levy on South Korean exports. South Korea's legislature is not living up to its deal with the U.S., said Trump, adding he expects U.S. trading partners to reduce their tariffs in line with the agreed transactions.
The key outside markets today see crude oil prices near steady and trading around $60.75 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is weaker and the U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield is presently 4.21%.
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