Commodity Blog

Precious metals retreated today following yesterday’s rally, most likely due to profit-taking. Metals rallied yesterday on the news about an attack on Saudi oil facilities. Precious metals often rally on news about geopolitical tensions because investors use them as a safe haven. Uncertainty about the Brexit was also contributing to safe-haven demand.

Now, traders wait for the monetary policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The FOMC will start the gathering today and will announce its decision tomorrow. Market participants almost universally expect that the Committee will cut its main interest rate by 25 basis points. However, Friday’s positive macroeconomic data made speculators doubt whether US policymakers will be as aggressive with monetary easing as was previously expected. As a result, the CME FedWatch page shows just a 66% probability of a cut tomorrow and about 50% probability of another cut later this year.

Futures for delivery of gold in December dropped by 0.41% to $1,505.30 per ounce as of 9:36 GMT on COMEX today. Contract for silver tumbled 0.64% to $17.91 per ounce. Spot price for platinum fell 0.46% to $933.22 per ounce, and palladium also declined by 0.46% to $1,598.84 per ounce.

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