Gold Near Steady as Stronger U.S. Dollar Limits Buying Interest
London (Mar 31) Gold prices trading not far from unchanged levels in early U.S. dealings Tuesday. A good rebound in the U.S. dollar index early this week is keeping the precious metals bulls on the defensive. Lower crude oil prices are also an underlying negative for the precious metals Tuesday morning. April Comex gold was last up $1.00 at $1,185.80 an ounce. May Comex silver was last down $0.014 at $16.66 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar index is higher again Tuesday morning and has made a good recovery from the selling pressure seen last week. But the greenback bulls still have more work to do this week to suggest the U.S. dollar index has not put in a near-term top.
Crude oil prices are lower early Tuesday as U.N. and Iran nuclear talks are winding down. Today is the day the meetings are scheduled to end. A positive outcome would mean Iranian oil eventually coming back onto the world market. U.S. officials are saying the odds are 50-50 that an agreement will be reached between Iran and the U.N.
The U.S. stock indexes are lower in pre-market trading. If the stock indexes come under some stronger selling pressure today, the safe-haven gold market would likely see some better buying interest.
Traders and investors continue to discuss last Friday’s comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. After the markets had closed Friday afternoon Yellen hinted the Fed will likely raise U.S. interest rates this year. The market place deemed her remarks as leaning toward the hawkish side of monetary policy.
In overnight news, Eurozone consumer prices dropped for the fourth month in a row, at down 0.1% in March, year-on-year. The reading was in line with market expectations. The regions unemployment rate also declined slightly in in February, at 11.3% versus 11.4% in January.
Tuesday is the last trading day of the month and of the quarter, which makes it an extra important trading day from a technical perspective. It is technically significant when a market closes out the last trading day of the week, month or quarter at or near its high or low of that period.
U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the weekly Johnson Redbook and Goldman Sachs retail sales reports, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, the ISM Chicago business survey, and the consumer confidence index.
Source: KitcoNews
