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Gold Falls Before Ukraine and EU Elections

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old prices are modestly lower in early U.S. trading Friday. A firmer U.S. dollar index that hit a six-week high overnight is limiting buying interest in the yellow metal. June Comex gold was last down $3.50 at $1,291.60 an ounce. Spot gold was last quoted down $3.10 at $1,291.00. July Comex silver last traded down $0.13 at $19.39 an ounce.

It would not be surprising to see some keener risk aversion creep into the market place as trading session progresses Friday. It’s a long, three-day holiday weekend in the U.S and U.K. The European Union sees parliamentary election results during the weekend. There is concern in the EU about anti-EU candidates making a strong showing, which in turn has helped to push EU periphery countries’ bond yields higher recently. And the Russia-Ukraine territorial crisis, while presently on a low simmer, could see the heat turned up this weekend. The Ukraine holds a presidential election on Sunday. I would not want to be short gold, the U.S. Treasuries or the U.S. dollar heading into this extra uncertain weekend.

In overnight news, the German Ifo business confidence index missed market expectations, which helped to push the Euro currency still lower. The Ifo index for May came in at 110.4 versus 111.2 in April. Germany is by far the European Union’s largest economy. This report adds still more weight to notions the European Central Bank will move to further ease its monetary policy at its regular meeting in early June.

Credit rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poors have raised their ratings on the sovereign debt of Spain and Greece. The EU debt markets showed little reaction, with yields still elevated due to higher concern regarding the economic health of the bloc.

via Kitco

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza

@alfonso_forex

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