Gold drifts lower as traders gauge Fed’s rate path

Published: June 7, 2023 at 8:02 a.m. ET By William Watts

Gold futures edged lower early Wednesday, remaining stuck in a range as investors await further clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

Price action

• Gold for August delivery GC00, -0.24% GCQ23, -0.23% fell $3.20, or 0.2%, to $1,978.30 an ounce on Comex.
• July silver SIN23, -0.02% edged up 2.5 cents, or 0.1%, to $23.695 an ounce.
• July platinum PLN23, 0.26% rose 0.5% to $1,044.40 an ounce, while September palladium PAU23, -0.62% fell 0.2% to $1,408.50 an ounce.
• July copper HGN23, 0.46% rose 0.4% to $3.782 a pound.

Market drivers

“In the past week, gold prices basically remained within a trading range of about 2% from the lower to higher end of the trading range,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital, in a note to clients.

” The fact that the debt ceiling crisis was resolved without a default did indeed deflate prices somewhat. However, the intermediate short-term prices will likely remain locked in the $1,950 -$2,000 range as the market eyes the next Fed move,” he wrote.

The Federal Reserve is expected to hold its policy interest rate steady when policy makers meet next week. Fed-funds futures traders have priced in just a 22.9% probability of a quarter percentage point rate rise on June 14, but see a 65% chance rates will have risen by a quarter or half a percentage point at its July 26 meeting.