23rd July 2016

Gold retreated on Friday, falling back on account of yet another uptick in the US stock market, coupled with a stronger dollar. In addition, there is growing conviction that the Federal Reserve might put through another rate increase later this year, as the US economy remains relatively strong. In this regard, over half the 100 economists surveyed by Reuters this past week now expect the Fed to raise its federal funds rate by 25 basis points sometime in Q4, with the most likely month for a move being December (although September is now looking much better as well). In addition to the $8/ounce decline we saw in gold on Friday, silver lost $.12/ounce on Friday, while platinum fell back by roughly $20/ounce. Palladium bucked the trend to finish unchanged on the day, but still cobbled together its fifth weekly rise.