(Kitco News) – Gold (0.47%) and silver (0.49%) have pushed higher during the Asian session and look positive heading into the European open. The move is still nothing in comparison to the move lower seen on Monday and Tuesday but there is some support around at the moment for the two precious metals. Risk sentiment was mixed overnight as Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.91% higher but the ASX closed 0.71% in the red. The Shanghai Composite was also bullish closing 0.22% in the black.
In terms of news heading into the EU open traders will still be digesting the Fed minutes that were released late last night. It seems the Fed are preparing for some action in December but it is unclear from the minutes exactly what that will be. The FOMC noted that some participants expected the committee to eventually lengthen the weighted average maturity of the Fed purchases of treasury securities. There is also some suggestion that the Fed could increase the pace of buying or shift the purchases to a longer maturity. Lastly, as always the Fed said they could provide more accommodation if appropriate.
Elsewhere on the political front, President-elect Joe Biden is said to choosing between a former Federal Reserve vice-chair, and an executive at BlackRock to be his top White House economic adviser. Roger Ferguson who was the Federal Reserve vice-chair from 1999 to 2006 and Brian Deese who worked at investment giant BlackRock.
Most of the base metals are looking good heading into the open as copper trades 0.76% higher along with zinc 0.71%, lead 0.59%, nickel 0.36% and tin 0.09%. In the FX space once again it is the euro at the top of the pile but GBP is struggling against the like of JPY and USD.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include ECB meeting minutes, Riksbank rate decision and comments from ECB’s Lane and Schnabel. The afternoon session will likely be quiet as the US is off for the Thanksgiving public holiday.