Gold Down, Wait for Fed Taper Clues Continues

Gold was up on Thursday morning in Asia, with investors continuing their wait for clues on when the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin asset tapering.

Gold futures inched down 0.05% to $1,793.85 by 11:34 PM ET (3:34 AM GMT) after falling 0.6% on Wednesday, the biggest one-day decline in a week.

The Fed will hand down its latest policy decision next week, which could provide clues on the central bank’s timeline.

Across the Atlantic, European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said on Wednesday that real interest rates are puzzlingly low globally and that investors may be overestimating the economic impact of COVID-19’s Delta variant.

Several countries in Asia Pacific released data, starting with Japan. Trade data released earlier in the day showed that exports grew 26.2% year-on-year and imports grew 44.7% year-on-year in August. The trade balance was at a deficit of JPY635.4 billion ($5.8 billion).

Australia released jobs data that showed the employment change contracted by 146,300, while the full employment change contracted by 68,000, in August. The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

In New Zealand, the GDP grew 2.8% quarter-on-quarter and 17.4% year-on-year in the second quarter.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust (P:GLD) fell 0.2% to 998.46 tons on Wednesday from 1,000.21 tons on Tuesday. Russia’s Ministry of Finance also said on Wednesday that the country produced 135.5 tonnes of gold in the first six months of 2021, down from 138.1 in the same period in 2020.

In other precious metals, silver was steady at $23.83 per ounce. Platinum gained 0.5% after hitting an over nine-month low on Wednesday and palladium rose 1.1% to $2,025.52.