Fed Likely to Hold Rates in 2025
Gold has benefited from geopolitical uncertainty and central bank demand, but a prolonged period of restrictive Fed policy presents risks.
Source – FXEMPIRE
“There is a demand from consumers for hallmarking of silver. You (BIS) can deliberate and take a call,” Joshi said at the 78th BIS Foundation Day event.
BIS is Bureau of Indian Standards
Source – Business Standard
Canadian miner McEwen Copper, a subsidiary of McEwen Mining, has submitted a request to join an Argentine government incentives program that would give it significant tax breaks for its Los Azules copper project in San Juan province, it said.
Once the government gives McEwen the green light, its corporate tax rate for the Los Azules project will fall from 35% to 25%, and it will be exempt from value-added tax during construction and from export duties.
Source – Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals is looking for critical minerals projects in Zambia to invest in, the southern African country’s mines minister Paul Kabuswe told Reuters on Thursday.
“They (Manara) are interested, but we do not know which ones yet,” he said on the sidelines of a mining conference in Riyadh, adding that an announcement on a potential mining deal between Zambia and Saudi Arabia is likely this year.
“We no longer want those agreements where we have 10% or 15%,” he said, adding that the government is also holding talks with Barrick Gold, Ivanhoe Mines and Chinese investors on their plans for new projects.
Source – Reuters
The metal is showing strong upside potential, with the next target range between $34.87 and $35.40. However, traders should remain cautious as silver is currently well above key support levels at $32.53 and the 50-day moving average at $31.75.
Source – FXEMPIRE
Spot gold eased 0.2% to $2,893.87 per ounce as of 09:58 a.m. ET (1458 GMT). U.S. gold futures fell 0.4% to $2,920.60.
Prices dropped over 1% after data showed the U.S. consumer price index jumped 0.5% last month, more than expected, reinforcing the Fed message that it was in no rush to resume cutting interest rates amid growing uncertainty over the economy.
“With today’s CPI data coming in hotter-than-expected, that has put weight on the gold market. Obviously at this point, any expectation that the market would have had of any type of rate cut later this year has now been put down,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
Spot silver shed 0.7% to $32.05 per ounce and palladium fell 0.3% to $973.11, while platinum added 0.7% to $990.10.
Source – Reuters
CPI – Consumer Price Index
Prospects for platinum group metals in 2025 look similar to previous years, UBS says, adding that it expects platinum to outperform palladium , and both to lag gold and silver once again.
The investment bank, meanwhile, has a forecast of a 25% return for silver, with prices trading in a $36-38/oz range.
“Hence, we hold a more nuanced outlook for the overall precious metal sector, with a more attractive risk-reward in gold/silver versus platinum/palladium. Within the platinum group of metals, platinum remains favored over palladium, considering the higher volatility and lower liquidity of the latter,” analysts added.
Source – Seeking Alpha