Commodity Blog

Gold futures are kicking off the trading week at four-week lows. Following back-to-back weekly losses, the yellow metal is in the red as the US dollar advances and hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve helps propel the greenback. Gold prices did garner some support from Brexit talks and central bank economic projections.

August gold futures tumbled $7.40, or 0.59%, to $1,249.10 per ounce at 16:35 GMT on Monday. Gold is trading at its lowest level since late May and comes as the precious metal posted a 1.2% weekly drop last week.

Silver is also bleeding red ink to begin the trading week. July silver futures dipped $0.14, or 0.85%, to $16.52 an ounce. Silver prices are hovering around one-month lows as the white metal reported a 3.3% weekly decline last week.

Investors are expecting that New York Fed President William Dudley will deliver hawkish comments in a roundtable discussion with local business leaders on Monday. If the comments are hawkish then it could help the greenback increase further. The US dollar rose 0.33% on Monday. A strong US dollar is bad for commodities like gold and silver because it makes it more expensive for foreign investors to purchase.

Dudley’s meeting occurs a few days after the US central bank pulled the trigger on its third hike to interest rates in six months. During last week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Fed Chair Janet Yellen also announced a plan to wind down its immense and unprecedented $4.5 trillion balance sheet.

Any losses in precious metals were capped over the uncertainty pertaining to Great Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU). Since the election, in which UK Prime Minister Theresa May failed to enhance her majority, there have been reports that Brexit talks may be stalled because of political turmoil.

Gold also benefitted from the Atlanta Fed lowering its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) projections to 2.9%.

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