Title: Gold Down, Investors Focus on Key Central Bank Meetings

Dec 13, 2021 10:26PM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Gold prices were down on Tuesday morning, but moves were small as investors awaited decisions from major central banks.

Gold futures fell 0.09% to $1,786.75 by 10:15 PM ET (3:15 AM GMT). The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, rose slightly on Tuesday.

Some 20 central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, will announce their respective monetary policy decisions this week.

The US Federal Reserve will begin its two-day monetary policy meeting later today and will make its decision on Wednesday, when it is expected to accelerate its asset reduction program. Investors will also be on the lookout for clues on the timing of interest rate hikes in 2022.

The European Central Bank will announce its monetary policy decision on Thursday, when it is expected to confirm the exit from the €1.85 trillion ($2.08 trillion) COVID-19 emergency program in March 2022.

Meanwhile, at the Bank of England, concerns about the COVID-19 variant outweigh worries about high inflation, reducing the likelihood of a rate hike. According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first Omicron-related death has been reported in the UK.

On the data front, the US producer price index is due later in the day. In the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese data, including industrial production and retail sales, is due on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a New York Federal Reserve survey released on Monday showed that US consumers' short-term inflation expectations rose, while expectations for future earnings growth fell in November.

In other precious metals, silver fell 0.1%, platinum held steady at $929.45, and palladium fell 0.3%.