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Precious metals retreated on Wednesday after a four-day streak of gains as investors braced for the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting from earlier this month.
Gold for June delivery
GC00,
-1.19%
retreated roughly 1.1%, or $20.60, to $1,844 an ounce, while silver
SI00,
-1.03%
retreated 0.8%, or 17 cents, to $21.89 an ounce.
While precious metals like gold historically have been seen as safe haven assets, in recent months, it has tended to trade in the same direction as equity indexes. On Wednesday, gold and silver remained lower, while U.S. stocks mostly edged higher after the market open, and despite the fact that Treasury yields, which move inversely to prices, were on the downswing.
Marshall Gittler, head of investment research at BDSwiss, said the dynamic across markets was puzzling: “Gold and silver are trading as ‘risky assets’ nowadays.” Gold and stocks both were under pressures Wednesday, but the precious metals has been taking cues lately from the direction of the dollar,
DXY,
+0.46%
which was back on the gain.
The U.S. dollar is on a “corrective bounce,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com, in a Wednesday note, adding that trading could be muted until the 2 p.m. release of Fed minutes. “The marketplace is looking for further guidance on the timing and pace of the Fed’s monetary tightening cycle, and on inflation prospects.”
Metals mostly were retreating across the complex, but with palladium futures
PA00,
+0.10%
flipping to gains, up 0.4% at $1,994.50 an ounce, while platinum futures
PL00,
-1.30%
shed 0.6% to $937.50 an ounce.
Even industrial metals like copper
HG00,
-1.37%
were off on the day, with futures down 1.3%, or 6 cents, to $4.25 a pound.
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