“If higher numbers come out (on the jobs report) and we get another strong reading, that could automatically boost odds of a September rate hike”, said Ninh Chung, head of portfolio management at SVB Asset Management in San Francisco.
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Fed chair Janet Yellen said last week that the case for higher rates was strengthening, although any decision would be largely dependent on what upcoming data suggests about the USA economy. The S&P Core Logic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index rose 5.1% year-on-year, compared to expectations for an increase of 5.2% and May’s revised 5.3% increase.
Reuters quotes Alan Thorndike, senior precious metals trader at MKS PAMP Group, as noting this tight trading range for gold lately.
Gold for December settlement declined 1% on Tuesday to reach its lowest level in two months.
Japanese shares rose, with the benchmark stock index set to wipe out losses for the month, after the yen remained weak for a fifth day on bets the Federal Reserve will move to raise interest rates this year.
Asked about the dollar on Tuesday, Fischer said the currency’s strength affected United States inflation and company profits but improvements in the labour market showed the economy had withstood this headwind.
The S&P 500 and the Dow snapped a three-day losing streak on Monday, helped by a lift in financials and commodity stocks, after strong consumer spending data pointed to a pickup in USA economic growth.
Treasuries were pounded on Friday in the aftermath of Fed boss Janet Yellen’s speech at the global central banker enclave in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but snapped back on Monday.
Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) closed up 0.50 percent, at 1,357.17. His statement gave new support to a U.S. dollar which rose to a three-week high , putting pressure on gold prices and oil futures. Economists expect a contraction at a 1.5 percent annualized pace as growth was shaken by wildfires in northern Alberta that disrupted oil production. It hit session high at 0.7542 and made session lows at 0.7499 levels.
The Australian dollar declined against greenback on Tuesday after an upbeat U.S. economic data combined with decline in oil prices weighted on the Aussie.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 101.1 in August from a downwardly revised 96.7 in July.
Fed Reserve vice chair Stanley Fischer told Bloomberg on Tuesday that while negative interest rates seem to be working in other countries, the U.S. central bank is not “planning to do anything in that direction”.
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the US labor market is “very close to full employment” in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, adding he couldn’t say whether the next interest rate increase would be “one and done”. The Aussie has been on a downtrend since hitting a near 3-1/2 month high of $0.7760 earlier in August.
European equities climbed to a two-week high on Tuesday, with financial stocks gaining ground on mounting expectations of a possible US rate hike this year. December futures saw gold gain $1.20 to settle at $1,327.10, while silver futures gained 11 cents to end at $18.86.
Movers and shakers: Shares of Apple closed down 0.8% after the European Union antitrust regulator’s allegation that the company’s tax arrangement with Ireland allowed it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years.
US stocks slipped on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected USA consumer confidence data stoked concerns about a potential Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year and technology stocks dragged, while European shares and the dollar hit multi-week highs.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD02Y, +0.00% which is the most sensitive to rate-hike expectations, was down 0.8 basis point at 0.801%, according to Tradeweb. The underlying measure slipped 0.2 percent on Tuesday ahead of a slew of economic data due this week including manufacturing on Thursday and a payrolls report on Friday.
Gold fell to a six-week low on Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials sounded a hawkish note on interest rates, boosting the dollar, while attention turned to USA payrolls data this week for further clues on the pace of rate hikes. The S&P 500 .SPX was down 6.12 points, or 0.28 percent, at 2,174.26. At 10am in NY, gold was trading at $1,318.90 an ounce. Spot gold was down $4.30, while December gold futures were down $8.20.
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Brent crude futures settled down 89 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $48.37 per barrel.
