WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices slipped on Wednesday as investors resorted to profit booking from record high levels from previous sessions.
Intensifying U.S.-Venezuela and Russia-Ukraine conflicts and expectations of a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve in January helped limit the downside for the precious metal.
Front Month Comex Gold for December delivery edged down incrementally by $2.20 (or 0.05%) to $4,480.60 per troy ounce. Yesterday gold hit a record high of $4,482.80.
Front Month Comex Silver for December delivery advanced by 54.60 cents (or 0.77%) to $71.031 per troy ounce. Notably, this is a new record high for silver prices, which have increased for four consecutive sessions.
In the U.S. today, data released by the Labor Department revealed that initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 from the previous week to 214,000 for the week ending December 20. In addition, the four-week moving average for initial jobless claims has decreased to 216,750 thousand.
For the week ending December 13, continuing jobless claims rose for the second consecutive week to 1,923,000 (highest in three weeks).
Data from Mortgage Bankers Association of America revealed that the MBA Purchase Index has decreased to 169.90 points on December 19 from 176.50 points of the previous week.
So far in 2025, gold prices have surged to record highs, spiking around 70% year-on-year. In percentage terms, silver has outshined gold in annual gains, skyrocketing by around 130%.
This week alone, gold and silver have surged 2.4% and 3.4%, respectively.
Accusing the president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro of promoting illegal narco-traffic that penetrates into the U.S. and creates an opioid crisis there, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a 'total naval blockade' of all sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela. The U.S. has also ramped up its military presence around Venezuela.
After capturing two big oil tankers, Trump has proclaimed that the U.S. will keep the oil to replenish strategic reserves or may sell it on the market. He added that the U.S. would sell the vessel.
The U.S. Coast Guard is in pursuit of a third vessel in international waters linked to Venezuela.
Brushing aside Trump's claims, Maduro has counter-claimed that U.S. actually wants to seize Venezuela's rich oil reserves under the pretext of baseless allegations.
Yesterday, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the conflict wherein a majority of members advised the U.S. to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation.
Russia and China, currently standing with Venezuela on this issue, condemned the U.S. actions and Trump's rhetoric.
Analysts feel that as China is a major buyer of Venezuelan oil, any direct intervention by China could erupt into a new crisis.
In a fresh development to the efforts led by the Trump administration to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the outlines of a new 20-point peace plan agreed upon by negotiators from the U.S. and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy stated that the draft has been forwarded to Russia for their review.
The framework is to be finalized with supplementary bilateral agreements between the U.S. and Ukraine to cover security guarantees and rehabilitation.
Russia is expected to respond after deep diving the charters of the agreement.
In the U.S., despite divergent views from several Fed officials on the possibilities of further rate cuts with respect to inflation versus unemployment, markets are keeping alive the expectations of an interest rate cut by the Fed.
Trump is an explicit supporter of a lower interest rate regime and speculation that his pick for the next Fed Chair would be a pro-rate cut economist has increased expectations that the Fed would adopt a dovish stand.
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, investors are betting on a 13.3% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's upcoming January 27-28 meeting.
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