Gold price received a lift from the latest Fed minutes

The gold price continued to rally on Thursday, reaching another multi-month high in the aftermath of yesterday’s Fed minutes.  The spot price of gold climbed $17.23, or 1.0%, to $1,672.28 per ounce – its highest level since April 13th – as the Federal Reserve reiterated its dovish stance on monetary policy.  Today’s gold price strength coincided with gains in other precious metals and commodities and modest weakness in the U.S. dollar.

Yesterday afternoon, the gold price received a lift from the latest Fed minutes, a recap of last month’s FOMC meeting.  The Ben Bernanke-led central bank noted that “Many members judged that additional monetary accommodation would likely be warranted fairly soon unless incoming information pointed to a substantial and sustainable strengthening in the pace of the economic recovery.”  The minutes also stated that many central bankers believe that there is “substantial capacity” for additional asset purchases, i.e. quantitative easing.

Commenting on the Fed minutes and its implications for the price of gold, Chen Min – an analyst at Jinrui Futures in China – told Reuters that  ”The Fed’s tone is totally different in the minutes from previous comments, and that helped gold break from the previous range and move into a higher price range ahead of the peak consumption season.”

Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, echoed Min’s sentiments on the outlook for monetary policy.  In a note to clients, Greenhaus wrote that “If there was any doubt about how close the FOMC is to easing, the minutes to the most recent meeting should dispel those concerns.  According to the minutes, one member said additional accommodation would not improve the outlook.  One.”

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