Monday opened with gold prices at $1,280.34 an ounce. Trading would take the price of gold down 27 cents by the day’s close before shooting it up more than $14 to $1,294.30 on Tuesday morning. After moving up another 39 cents, the week’s high of $1,294.69 was set at noon. Prices then closed unchanged from the open, and profit taking set a trend for the rest of the week. The price of gold pulled back from an opening of $1,291.97 to a close of $1,286.98 on Wednesday. Thursday morning saw an opening of $1,274.77, which buying took to $1,277.85 by the last bid of the day. The price of gold opened at $1,266.72 an ounce on Friday and closed 9 cents shy of that price.
Former U.S. FBI Director James Comey’s testimony didn’t reveal any major surprises and served to allay fears of immediate political upheaval at home as a result of the hearing. The UK election failed to cement the power of a single party, creating political uncertainty for that country. Analysts will be watching how Prime Minister Theresa May handles Brexit negotiations without a majority backing her in parliament. The exchange between the EU and the UK over the country’s departure could create some risk aversion in the market, which would be favorable for gold prices. 1
U.S. economic and crude oil futures and inventories data will be released this week. Both of these are strong indicators of the direction of the U.S. economy. On Wednesday, the Fed’s FOMC minutes will be announced, along with the projection updates from individual members of the committee. The market seems to have priced in a small increase, but traders will be watching the decision closely. The Bank of England will announce its latest monetary policy decisions on Thursday. 2