(Kitco News) – Gold has capitalized on yesterday’s post FOMC gains and traded just over half a percent higher this morning at $1816/oz. Silver has also moved into the black and once again is trading above $25/oz. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper is trading nearly 1% higher and spot WTI around half a percent higher too.
Risk sentiment in the Asia Pac area was decent overnight. The Nikkei 225 (0.73%), ASX (0.52%) and Shanghai Composite (1.18%) all traded higher. Futures in Europe are also pointing towards a positive open.
In the FX markets, the dollar index has fallen 0.14% and the worst performer is USD/CAD which lost -0.30%. In the crypto space, BTC/USD finally took out the $40k area, which it has been threatening to do for a few sessions.
In terms of news, the main bulk of the headlines came from the Fed. Jerome Powell and Co. stood pat on rates noting that some progress had been made towards the Fed’s goals but the key thresholds have not been met. It was said that tapering is coming with many suggesting Powell will announce this at the Jackson Hole Symposium later in the month (26th-28th). Goldman Sachs expects an FOMC taper warning in September, announcement in December.
In other news, ECB’s Panetta said the central bank can only increase rates when convinced that inflation can stabilize at 2% over the medium term.
China will continue to allow Chinese companies to go public in the U.S.
The proposed US infrastructure deal looks to higher taxes on crypto for part of the funding.
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is still 84 % effective after six months.
Australia Q2 export prices +13.2% q/q (prior +11.2%) & import prices +1.9% q/q (prior +0.2%).
The U.S. Senate voted to move ahead with the infrastructure deal with the vote count standing at 67-32.
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include German state and nation CPI, ECB minutes, U.S. GDP, initial jobless claims, and German employment data.