Precious metals, other than silver, trended downward for a majority of the day on Wednesday. US stocks as well as the US Dollar made gains for a majority of the day and have been doing extremely well all week long. For a slow, mid-August week, investors are partaking in a decent amount of trading activity. Looking forward to the last two days of the week, the focus of the investing world will turn to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the global central bankers meeting being held there.
Interest Rate Speculation Continues
Despite this week being extremely slow from an economic standpoint, investors have found plenty of information to distract themselves with. Yesterday brought about a US housing report indicating that the housing market is improving, while today played host to the minutes from the FOMC’s most recent meeting. Unfortunately for precious metals, what little data has been made public this week has worked against spot values. While there are some geopolitical hotspots helping aid safe-haven demand for precious metals, they are doing more in the way of limiting selling pressure than they are contributing to any gains.
This Friday will see some of the world’s most influential central bankers descend upon the small resort town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The meeting this year will center around employment and what measures central banks from around the world are taking to help aid the employment sector of countries from around the world.
For US investors in particular, the most important part of the meeting in Jackson Hole will come when Janet Yellen makes her scehduled address. Though at this point it is unclear what Ms. Yellen’s speech will center on, most are hoping to hear some sort of information concerning the future of interest rates in the United States. Currently, there is a division of opinion, with some people thinking interest rates will increase this time next year, while others think rates will be risen sometime sooner. Of course, the reality of the matter is that Yellen’s remarks are likely going to remain generally neutral and consistent with what she has said the last few times she’s addressed the topic of increased interest rates.
