Gold, silver up as bulls gaining momentum

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are firmer in midday trading Tuesday. Gold hit a three-week high and silver a two-week high today and the bulls are gaining more confidence. The gold market paused today after good gains posted Monday. The precious metals bulls are encouraged this week by growing ideas the Federal Reserve will not be able to start tightening its monetary policy as soon as many had reckoned just a few weeks ago. The big rebound in crude oil prices this week is also a positive for the metals and the entire raw commodity sector. October gold futures were last up $1.40 at $1,805.40 and September Comex silver was last up $0.219 at $23.875 an ounce.

Global stock markets were flat to firmer overnight. The U.S. stock indexes are higher and at or near record highs and that is taking some buying interest away from the precious metals. Fundamentally, stock market traders are presently putting more emphasis on strong corporate earnings reports and recent solid U.S. economic data, and less emphasis on the surging coronavirus that may have the potential to damage major economies again in the coming months. However, it could be that the pendulum will swing the other way after the U.S. Labor Day holiday, when the stock and financial markets enter what can be the historically rough waters of September and October. Such a scenario would seem to favor the safe-haven metals markets bulls.

The attention of the marketplace this week is on the annual Federal Reserve symposium held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, starting Thursday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak virtually on Friday. The confab has been pared back a bit and parts of it will be virtual this year due to the spreading delta variant of the coronavirus. Many traders and investors are now thinking the Federal Reserve will lean less hawkish on U.S. monetary policy at the Fed symposium, due to the rapidly spreading Covid variant.