TS: Gold Prices Flat, Await Signals of Monetary Easing
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Gold prices were trading sideways Monday as investors continued to await any signal of easing from central bankers across the globe.
Gold for December delivery was falling $1.40 to $1,621.40 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price traded as high as $1,628.20 and as low as $1,620.30 an ounce, while the spot price was rising $1.50, according to Kitco's gold index.
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"There's not a lot of talk about gold at the moment," said Phil Streible, senior commodities broker at RJO Futures. "Some traders are tossing around the idea of stimulus talk at Jackson Hole."
Silver prices for September delivery were down about 17 cents to $27.90 an ounce, while the U.S. dollar index was lowering 0.22% to $82.38.
The Federal Reserve and European Central Bank failed to offer any monetary easing two weeks ago to investors who have been looking for any action to prop up a stagnating global economy.
Last week, China reported inflation was slowing, which opened the door to chatter that the country could put a fresh round of easing policy on the table.
The Fed won't make a policy announcement until next week, while traders will have to wait until early September for any indication from the ECB.
Central bankers, policy experts and academics will convene at the end of August in Jackson Hole, Wyo., for the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium to discuss future economic events. The meeting could offer some hint of Fed policy moving forward.
"When we look at some of the key dates, I'm not sure we think of Jackson Hole on the first of September as a key date, but it certainly will be to central bankers talking about policy, which I think is critical for the markets overall," Janet Engels, an analyst at RBC Wealth Management, said last week in an interview.
The producer price index and retail sales reports are released Tuesday, and will be followed on Wednesday with the consumer price index, which will give investors a gauge of inflation in the United States. Weekly jobless claims come out Thursday, and will be followed by the Philadelphia Fed survey that indicates general business conditions.
