Forexpros – Gold futures traded lower during the U.S. session Tuesday, as investors were uncertain after Fed Chief Ben Bernanke’s negative assessment of the U.S. economy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at USD1,590.25 a troy ounce during U.S. afternoon trade, giving back 0.10%.
The August contract traded in between a range of USD1,598.75 a troy ounce, the daily high and a session low of USD1,585.45 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,567.15 a troy ounce, the low from July 13 and near-term resistance at USD1,601.25, the high from July 10.
Knocking the precious metal lower, Bernanke delivered a negative assessment of the outlook for the U.S. economy, saying growth had lost momentum in the first half of the year and added that efforts to reduce the U.S. unemployment rate were progressing “frustratingly” slowly.
However, he stopped short of indicating whether the Fed would embark on a third round of quantitative easing to stimulate the economy, but reiterated that the central bank was prepared to take further action to support the economic recovery, if necessary.
Markets exhibited a muted reaction to data saying that core consumer price inflation in the U.S. rose 0.2% in June, broadly in line with market expectations, while prices including food and energy costs were flat.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would pump more money into the financial system.
Gold gained as much as 15% earlier this year to hit USD1,790 an ounce after the Fed said in January it would keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014 and indicated that it could introduce a fresh round of asset-purchases.
However, prices have lost almost 12% since late February, as the Fed failed to deliver more easing and amid concerns over the euro zone’s deepening debt crisis, which has fueled demand for the precious metal’s hedge, the greenback.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery gained 0.12% to trade at USD27.35 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery fell 0.78% to trade at USD3.458 a pound.
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