Gold: an overview of the market situation

Gold prices fell markedly today, reaching at this six-week low, which was associated with the strengthening of the dollar and the Fed's statement yesterday.

FOMC decision to leave interest rates unchanged and reduce the amount of the third round of quantitative easing was expected. However, the accompanying statement was somewhat different from the previous one, which reinforced expectations earlier Fed interest rate increase. Without a doubt, this is a negative factor for gold. Analysts believe that before tomorrow's publication of data on employment in the U.S. non-farm payrolls, which will indicate the degree of recovery in the labor market, speculators refrain from taking action. It should be noted that if the employment report in the U.S. will be good market expectations for a more rapid closure or stimulate a quicker rate hikes grow.

The course of trade also influenced today's data, which showed that the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 23,000 and amounted to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 in the week ended July 26. Data were slightly better than expected. Economists on average had forecast 306,000 initial claims. Treatment in the previous week were revised up to 279,000, the lowest level since May 2000. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, fell by 3,500 to 297,250 - the lowest level since April 2006. The report also showed: number of workers continuing to receive unemployment benefits increased by 31,000 and reached a seasonally adjusted 2.54 million in the week ended July 19.

Meanwhile, we add that, despite the decline in prices, the demand for gold is still supported as the tensions between Russia and the West because of the situation in Ukraine remains high, while the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza also remain in the spotlight. The precious metal is often seen as a safe haven for investment in times of geopolitical instability.

The cost of the August gold futures on the COMEX today fell by $ 8.8 - to $ 1286.10 per ounce.