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Gold futures were trading lower Thursday morning, as investors gravitated toward equities and away from assets perceived as havens.
Trading in commodities comes after the U.S. dollar received a boost when the Federal Reserve on Wednesday signaled its intent to “soon” taper its bond purchases and raise interest rates by late next year, which could dim appetite for bullion if investors shift to assets that offer yields.
Specifically, the Fed said “if progress continues broadly as expected, the committee judges that a moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted.”
December gold
GCZ21,
traded $10.10, or 0.6%, lower at $1,768.70 an ounce, following a gain of less than 0.1% for the commodity. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and the S&P 500 index
SPX,
were set to open higher Thursday.
“Fed Chairman Powell at his press conference sounded upbeat on U.S. economic and jobs-growth prospects,” wrote Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com, referring to Powell’s 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time media Q&A following the Fed’s updated policy statement.
“Judging by the positive reactions of stock and financial markets, the Fed meeting’s results, while not leaning dovish, were not too hawkish on U.S. monetary policy,” he wrote.
In U.S. economic news Thursday, initial jobless benefit claims rose to 351,000 from 335,000 in week ended Sept. 18. Continuing state jobless claims increase 131,000 to 2.71 million.
Meanwhile, December silver
SIZ21,
traded 22 cents, or 0.7%, lower at $22.69 an ounce, following a 1.3% gain on Wednesday.
