Gold rose on Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen curbed speculation that U.S. interest rates would rise more than once this year. In testimony for delivery to Congress, Yellen said the Fed would not need to lift rates all that much further to reach current low estimates of the neutral fed funds rate. That weighed on the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields, helping lift gold further from Monday’s near four-month low. The marketplace deemed her prepared text as favoring the dovish side of U.S. monetary policy. In recent weeks, FOMC minutes and other “Fed-speak” seemed to lean toward the hawkish side of U.S. money policy.Still the move in Gold today was muted gaining only 4.40 cents to close at 1219.1 basis August futures. The big winner today was the equity sector as the mini Dow futures contract scored new all time highs while the S&P and Nasdaq posted impressive gains. Front month silver futures posted gains and briefly flirted with the 16.00 level before pulling back before the close to finish the session at 1588.5. Whether it is geo-political turmoil, hysteria over the Trump administration, or a weaker dollar, spot gold needs a close over 1232.6 to entice more buyers into the market. While late summer has been a traditional boon for pricing for the precious metal sector, physical demand must pick up to buoy prices and send this market higher. A close under 1196.9 and further liquidation will be seen potentially pushing then market down to 1180 basis August futures.
