Gold and silver see slight price declines after hawkish Powell
New York (Mar 22) Gold and silver prices are just a bit weaker in early U.S. trading Tuesday. Rising U.S. Treasury yields are putting some pressure on the precious metals markets, after the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman on Monday leaned more hawkish on monetary policy. April gold futures were last down $3.90 at $1,925.40 and May Comex silver was last down $0.073 at $25.25 an ounce.
The U.S. Treasury markets are under more selling pressure Tuesday, following the hawkish rhetoric coming from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Monday at a NABE speech. The Fed chief said he is prepared to raise the key U.S. interest rate by 0.5% if conditions warrant. The Fed did a 0.25% rate hike last week. Powell also implied that the fight to keep inflation under control is important enough to risk slowing down U.S. economic growth in that effort.
Global stocks markets were mostly higher overnight. The U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward firmer openings when the New York day session begins. The Russia-Ukraine war situation has not changed much recently, so risk aversion in the marketplace remains elevated. President Biden Thursday meets with NATO and EU leaders to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two-day summit will be held at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
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The key outside markets see Nymex crude oil prices weaker and trading around $111.00 a barrel. Oil prices are rising sharply again on ideas the European Union is moving closer to banning oil imports from Russia. The U.S. dollar index is firmer today. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note is presently yielding 2.359%.
U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the Johnson Redbook and chain store sales index, and the Richmond Fed business survey.
KITCO
