MTECHTIPS;-Gold futures down for second day on Fed taper fears Gold futures were lower for the second consecutive session on Thursday, after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting indicated support for tapering.Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,363.00 a troy ounce during European morning hours, down 0.5%.Futures held in a range between USD1,354.80 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,367.40 a troy ounce.The December contract settled down 0.2% at USD1,370.10 a troy ounce on Wednesday. Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,318.10 a troy ounce, the low from August 15 and resistance at USD1,384.00, the high from August 19.The minutes of the Fed’s July meeting showed that officials were "broadly comfortable" with plans to scale back the bank’s USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program.However, officials remain divided over the timing of possible reduction, with almost all committee members agreeing that a change in the asset purchase program was not yet appropriate. The minutes described recent U.S. economic data as “mixed”, indicating that plans to taper could be pushed back if the economy was to weaken.The central bank is scheduled to meet September 17-18 to review the economy and assess policy. WWW.MTECHTIPS.COM 07489294118-119
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 09:15:01 +0000