Gold and silver continued their climb in Wednesday trading after the release of minutes from the Fed's last meeting suggesting policymakers were still stuck in neutral on interest rate cuts.
The minutes from the June 11-12 Federal Open Market Committee meeting gave investors little new insight into officials' willingness or timetable for making adjustments to the 5.25%-5.5% interest rate, although market sentiment suggests a 73% likelihood of a cut in September.
Gold and silver continued their run in Wednesday afternoon trading. Gold was up $25.78 at $2,356 per ounce and silver gained $0.90 at $30.48 an ounce. Both metals got an early shot in the arm Wednesday morning on data showing sluggish job growth and a weekly increase in workers seeking unemployment benefits.
In last month's meeting, "members agreed that economic activity continued to expand at a solid pace, job gains remained strong, and the unemployment rate remained low," according to the minutes released Wednesday afternoon. "Inflation eased over the past year but remained elevated."
And even though meeting members "judged that the risks to achieving the Committee's employment and inflation goals had moved toward better balance over the past year, members viewed the economic outlook as uncertain and agreed that they remained highly attentive to inflation risks."
Participants also voiced the need for more data that inflation was truly sliding back down to the Fed's 2% target before deciding on cutting rates – a sentiment reflected Tuesday in remarks made by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at a monetary policy roundtable in Portugal.
Bullion traders now await Friday's release of non-farm payrolls data for the possibility of an additional market catalyst this week.
Gold Price Chart
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