Gold Prices Extend Losing Streak; Slide to Lowest in More Than a Week
Investing.com - Gold prices marked a fourth straight session of declines on Thursday, sliding to their lowest level in more than a week as markets continued to grapple with uncertainty over who will become the next Federal Reserve chief and how that will influence the outlook for interest rates.
U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with current Chair Janet Yellen later in the day as part of his search for a new candidate for her position.
She is one of five candidates Trump is considering for the job. Stanford University economist John Taylor, regarded by market watchers as more hawkish than Yellen, is currently seen as a front-runner, according to media reports.
Taylor is known as a proponent of a rule-based monetary policy and according to his formula, known as the Taylor rule, the Fed funds rate needs to be much higher than where it currently stands.
Market players are also keeping an eye on current Fed Governor Jerome Powell and former Fed official Kevin Warsh as potential candidates to succeed Yellen when her term ends in February.
President Donald Trump will announce his decision on next Fed chair in the "coming days," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday.
The U.S. dollar held near a two-week high against the other major currencies, while bond yields remained supported near recent highs, dampening the appeal of bullion.
Comex gold futures dipped $2.50, or around 0.2%, to $1,280.50 a troy ounce by 3:00AM ET (0700GMT) after touching its worst level since Oct. 9 at $1,277.60 earlier in the session.
The yellow metal lost around 0.3% on Wednesday, its third-straight losing session.
Interest rate futures are pricing in around a 90% chance of a December Fed rate hike according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool. The U.S. central bank has already raised rates twice this year.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures were flat at $17.00 a troy ounce. Among other precious metals, platinum dropped 0.2% to $923.40, while palladium added 0.6% to $959.00 an ounce.
Meanwhile, copper futures held steady at $3.177 a pound as investors digested a barrage of economic data releases out of China, the world's top user of the red metal.
Third-quarter GDP showed the Chinese economy grew 6.8% compared to a year ago, meeting analyst expectations. That was a touch softer than the 6.9% growth seen in the second quarter of the year.
Other data releases were mixed. China's industrial production increased 6.6% in September compared to one year ago, beating forecasts for 6.2%. September retail sales also topped expectations, increasing by 10.3% compared to the previous year, above the 10.2% forecast. Fixed asset investment for the month, however, came up short.
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