Goldman also reiterated its gold price target of $1,840 per ounce

The gold price fell $3.22, or 0.2%, to $1,659.38 per ounce Monday morning as the U.S. dollar held firm against a basket of foreign currencies.  The price of gold climbed to as high as $1,666 in overnight trading, but turned sharply lower to $1,645 after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that personal spending rose at 0.3% in March – below the 0.5% consensus estimate among economists.  While the gold price normally benefits from disappointing economic data, today the yellow metal retreated alongside the broader commodities complex.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs echoed Bank of America’s cautious economic outlook in a recent note to clients and discussed the positive implications for the gold price.  The firm wrote it expects the price of gold to resume its ascent “as subdued US growth reduces the market’s expectations of real rates and perhaps, most importantly and counter to much of the current market feeling, suggests that the anticipated North American growth slowdown will see a return by the U.S. Fed to some form of quantitative easing.”  Goldman also reiterated its gold price target of $1,840 per ounce.

Looking ahead to the coming week, a slew of additional U.S. economic data will arrive for the financial markets and the Federal Reserve to scrutinize.  Along with reports on Personal Income, Personal Spending, and the Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index today, the ISM Index, Construction Spending, and Auto Sales data will be announced on Tuesday.  The ADP Employment report is due out on Wednesday, while weekly jobless claims and the ISM Services data will be released on Thursday.  The week then concludes on Friday with the most closely-followed data – the monthly non-farm payrolls and unemployment report.

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