Gold is trading just under flat leading into the European open

LONDON (July  13)  Gold is trading just under flat ahead of the European open at $1724.46/oz. Silver is 0.42% higher at $18.89/oz. In the rest of the commodities complex, both copper (0.95%) and spot WTI (0.88%) are trading in the black. 

Risk sentiment was moderate overnight. The ASX (0.23%) and Nikkei 225 (0.54%) moved higher but the Shanghai Composite closed -0.04% in the red. Futures in Europe are indicating a slightly positive cash open. 

In FX markets the USD has pullback slightly against most of the majors after the recent bout of strength. The biggest mover was GBP/USD which is 0.31% higher. In the crypto space, BTC/USD is 1% higher at $19,509.

News from overnight:

RBNZ 50bp rate hike, as expected. Takes the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 2.5%.

Bank of Korea raises its key rate by 50bps.

The U.S. Treasury is seeking comment on the risks and opportunities posed by cryptocurrency.

Fed's Barkin expects inflation to come down but not immediately or predictably. 

The IMF has cut its forecast for U.S. 2022 GDP growth to 2.3% (prior 2.9%).

U.K. May monthly GDP +0.5% vs 0.0% m/m expected.

Germany June final CPI +7.6% vs +7.6% y/y prelim.

Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include EZ industrial production, U.S. CPI, BoC policy announcement, IEA OMR, comments from BoC's Macklem and Rogers. 

KITCO