Gold Price Pauses After Recent Losses, Fed Minutes Due

New York (July 5)  Gold futures steadied Wednesday morning ahead of the closesly watched minutes of the June Federal Reserve meeting. Gold was up $2 at $1221.40 an ounce, holding near its 6-week lows.

Gold prices have dropped sharply over the past week due to speculation the Fed will raise rates a few more times in 2017.

Stocks rebounded in Asia and Europe overnight, limiting gold’s safe haven appeal. However, crude oil prices cooled off, giving gold a modest boost.

The Fed minutes may be taken with a grain of salt as data released since the meeting showed U.S. GDP rose more than initially reported in the first quarter.

Factory Orders data for May is expected at 10.00 am ET. Economists are looking for a decline of 0.6 percent. In the prior month, factory orders were down 0.2 percent.

Mortgage applications decreased 6.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage report.

Source: ForexTV