Walsh's Lusk: Gold Traders Have Many Factors To Digest Next Week

Friday April 28, 2017 09:36

Gold traders will have a lot of events on their plates to digest next week, says Sean Lusk, director of commercial hedging with Walsh Trading. Two big events will be a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee and the monthly U.S. jobs report. “We’ll see what the Fed has to say. If inflation is not where it needs to be, that is going to tell the market we’re not going to have any further tightening any time soon,” Lusk says. “However, if inflation gauges have picked up and they like what they’re seeing in the economy, then it’s going to give more thought to rate hikes down the road and really support the U.S. dollar.” No tightening tends to support gold, while rate hikes and a firmer greenback tend to undercut the precious metal. “You have a whole host of things the market is keeping an eye on, aside from the geopolitical stuff,” Lusk continues, also citing the market’s focus on U.S. tax and health-care changes.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News