WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday as investors resorting to profit-taking from yesterday's record high levels amid high expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Front Month Comex Gold for September delivery dipped $7.10 (or 0.19%) to $3,681.80 per troy ounce.
Front Month Comex Silver for September delivery slumped by 74.90 cents (or 1.76%) to $41.722 per troy ounce.
Traders across the world are keeping their fingers crossed to learn of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee's plans on interest rates to be announced today.
The most anticipated meeting of the US Fed in years concludes at 02:00 p.m. EDT, followed by remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Along with the Summary of Economic Projections, investors are awaiting the remarks from Powell to get an idea of what will be the interest rate path in future.
Weeks before, US President Donald Trump fired a Fed board of governor Lisa Cook, whose appeal against the decision has been upheld in court. Traders see Trump's action as an intent to exert authority over the independence of the US central bank.
With rates currently at 4.25%-4.5%, recent weak job numbers have raised expectations of the Fed lowering borrowing rates.
Recent revised jobs data showed that employers actually cut back on their payrolls in June, eliminating 13,000 jobs, and added just 22,000 in August.
With the effects of tariff slowly seeping into some goods, prices rose from 2.9% in August compared to the previous year.
The Fed could adopt a measured pace with modest rate adjustments or a more rapid set of cuts in the coming months.
Notably, Trump has called on Powell to slash rates in a big way and even explicitly encouraged him to resign. Of note, Powell's term ends in May 2026 and Trump has already named three choices as potential replacements.
Lower interest rates would help save investors the opportunity costs for holding bullion which is a non-yielding commodity.
On the economic front, data from US Commerce Department revealed that housing starts tumbled 8.5% month-over-month in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.307 million units.
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