Gold futures trading were lower on Wednesday, on track for a fifth consecutive decline, as investors awaited a Federal Reserve meeting that could be considered as which central bank officials see as the economic outlook.
The policy update, which comes after gold settles at 1:30 pm East, could have an impact when the US central bank caught health amid coronary virus infection.
Gold trading on Wednesday was measured by a reversal in the US dollar, which was up 0.4%, as measured by the U.S. DXY ICE Dollar Index,
A stronger dollar can dampen desire for gold among those investors who use other currencies.
GC00 February Gold,
GCG21,
it fell $ 9.10, or 0.5%, at $ 1,841.70 an ounce, after falling 0.2% Tuesday. Wednesday’s decline would match the longest streak of lower settlements for most active contract since a five-session slide ended on April 30, FactSet data show.
Delivery for March SI00,
SIH21,
declined 40 cents, or 1.7%, to reach $ 25.11 an ounce, after a 0.2% gain in the previous session.
“There will be a technical breakdown if gold and silver continue to fall in the U.S. session and before the Federal Reserve press conference,” Chintan Karnani, chief market analyst at Insignia Consultants, wrote in a note on Wednesday.
The Fed will conclude its first policy meeting of 2021 on Wednesday afternoon, releasing a policy statement, followed by Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m.
The Fed is not expected to make any policy moves and Powell is likely to reiterate the central bank’s commitment to maintaining a monetary monetary policy until inflation exceeds its 2% target.
However, commodity retailers have been keeping a close eye on central banks as a potential source of movement for gold prices.
“Markets could be more active in evening trading, following release of FOMC statement… Chairman Fed Powell has a history of making unexpected comments at his press conference which has stabilized markets, ”wrote Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com.