Over the past few months, as rumors flew that Jerome Powell would be Trump's pick for the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve (rumors that proved true), the prices of precious metals, in particular gold, have been fluctuating.
A commodity like gold is a quite tricky investment because its price depends on macroeconomic factors, such as central bank policies.
Many perceive James Powell as dovish on monetary policy, meaning that he supports lower interest rates, which in turn implies a tendency towards inflation. This might mean that gold could see an upward trend and ultimately result in higher gold prices as well. However, according to Martin Arnold, commodity strategist at ETF Securities, Powell's dovish policies in fact preserve the status quo, so we can expect to "see the dollar going higher from here, but in a gradual fashion. That's likely to be a source of modest downward pressure for gold."
To make future predictions, it might help to look at recent trends. As the dollar recovered at the end of October, gold prices fell and spot gold slipped by 0.43% to $1,270.40 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December were also lower, at $1,277.70 an ounce. According to Dan Hussey, senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago, gold prices came off their high because "there was a slight bit of volatility around the time of the tax cut announcement," and this led to some uncertainty. The House of Representatives have proposed to cut the corporate tax rate 35% to 20% and reduce the number of tax brackets for individuals.
Currently, SPDR gold shares (NYSE:GLD) are currently at $122.63. There is an uptrend line from the start of the year, which only broke once in July but then quickly recovered. In order for this bullish trend to stay intact, gold shares must be above the $120 level.
In other precious metals, platinum was down .99% at $921.74 at the end of October, though it has since risen again to $933.0. Silver is down .18% to $17.09 an ounce, after reaching a high of $17.24 at the end of October.