Gold and silver dipped slightly in early morning trading Monday as investors awaited critical data later this week on retail sales, new home construction, and a report card on the health of the country’s manufacturing and service sectors.
With several members of the Fed also scheduled to deliver public comments later this week, Wall Street hoped to get a clearer picture of when policymakers might begin to trim interest rates after several signs last week pointed to slowing inflation.
As investors waited on those key puzzle pieces during the shortened trading week, gold and silver markets were tepid early Monday. Gold was down $5.83 at $2,323 per ounce, while silver dipped $0.10 at $29.40 per ounce.
Things should start to fill out on Tuesday when reports on U.S. retail sales, industrial production, and business inventories are released. Additionally, public remarks by four Fed members – Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin, Dallas Fed President Laurie Logan, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee – are also slated throughout the day.
After Wednesday’s Juneteenth market holiday, investors will digest data on housing starts and building permits, plus the week’s initial jobless claims, on Thursday. On Friday, estimates on U.S. services and manufacturing are due, in addition to numbers on existing home sales.
Last week, federal monetary officials unanimously voted to leave 23-year-high interest rates unchanged but signaled at least one rate cut by the end of 2024 – many investors figure that reduction will come by September.
The decision of last Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting came amid a week of economic news showing that inflation may finally be easing. But the issue for the Fed was whether it was slowing fast enough to warrant a rate cut, as officials voiced a desire to study more data for signs of a consistent, monthslong inflation slowdown before pulling the trigger on any reductions.