Off the wire
• 2nd LD: Mass shooting of up to 20 victims in San Bernardino, California: authorities  • Pentagon says about 100 U.S. special forces being sent to Iraq  • Nigerian troops in pursuit of escaping terrorists: official  • 2nd LD Writethru: Chinese, South African presidents vow to cement partnership  • Merkel, Ghani vow to promote stability, reduce migration from Afghanistan to Germany  • Volvo unveils premium sedan model in Sweden  • 1st LD Writethru: Oil prices dive on growing inventories  • (Recast) Roundup: No credible evidence on Iran's atomic bomb plan after 2009, delivery system research after 2011: IAEA  • Roundup: No credible evident on Iran's atomic bomb plan after 2009, delivery system research after 2011: IAEA  • China to roll out new measures to boost China-Africa cooperation: official  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: Gold down ahead of ECB meeting

Xinhua, December 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday as traders prepared their positions ahead of a meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB).

The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 9.7 U.S. dollars, or 0.91 percent, to settle at 1,053.80 dollars per ounce.

The U.S. dollar rose as the ECB is signaling that it will further ease monetary policy at its meeting later this week.

Analysts believe that traders will be watching both the jobless claims report on Thursday, and the big jobs report due out on Friday, as positive news in either of the reports is likely to ensure a hike in interest rate at the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee Meeting (FOMC) on Dec. 15-16.

A report from Automated Data Processing (ADP) showed a much-better-than expected increase of 217,000 for payrolls in November, which would signal a higher chance of a Fed rate hike in December.

According to the CMEGroup's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability for a rate hike at the December FOMC meeting is 75 percent.

Analysts believe that the market has now fully factored in the expected December rate hike, and that the market is now unsure of when the next rate hike, from a 0.50 rate to a 0.75 rate, will occur.

Gold was put under further pressure as Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen told investors that she expected the economy to improve further.

Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington, Yellen said that she expected the improvement to be enough to stimulate further increases in the interest rate.

Silver for March delivery fell 7.4 cents, or 0.53 percent, to close at 14.009 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery dropped 3 dollars, or 0.36 percent, to close at 832.40 dollars per ounce. Endit