Gold Eases On Fed’s Hawkish Views

Gold prices eased on Tuesday and the dollar rose against its major rivals as hawkish remarks from some Fed officials supported prospects of a tightening of monetary policy sooner rather later.

Spot gold dipped 0.3 percent to $1,772.31 per ounce, after marking its lowest since June 21 at $1,770.36 on Monday. U.S. gold futures were down half a percent at $1,772.20.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said on Monday that the central bank has made “substantial further progress” toward its inflation goal so as to begin the withdrawal of stimulus.

Barkin added that he would decide next year whether the U.S. central bank had reached its inflation and employment goals to justify a rate hike.

Several Fed policy makers have turned hawkish recently despite a weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation reading last week.

While U.S. Treasury yields held steady at the lower end of their recent range, the dollar hovered below a two-month high against its rivals amid concerns over the imposition of tougher restrictions in countries such as Australia, Malaysia and Thailand. Indonesia is considering imposing stricter restrictions starting Wednesday amid surging infections.

In the U.K, coronavirus cases involving the Delta variant are rising, prompting European nations such as Spain and Portugal to impose new restrictions on travelers.

Investors await U.S. jobs report due on Friday to determine the pace of improvement in the labor market.

Other key economic data due this week include pending home sales, ADP private sector payrolls, jobless claims and ISM manufacturing activity.

‘The Vixen,’ by Francine Prose: An Excerpt

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CHAPTER 1

In the winter of 1954, I was assigned to edit a novel, The Vixen, the Patriot, and the Fanatic, a steamy bodice-ripper based on the Rosenberg case.

UK Budget Deficit Narrows More Than Expected In May

The UK budget deficit narrowed more-than-expected in May from the last year as the government receipts increased amid falling expenditure, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Public sector net borrowing decreased to GBP 24.33 billion in May from GBP 43.76 billion in the previous year. The deficit was also below the economists’ forecast of GBP 26.1 billion.

Nonetheless, this was the second highest May borrowing since records began in 1993.

At GBP 56.9 billion, government receipts were up GBP 7.5 billion or 15.2 percent, while central government bodies spent GBP 81.8 billion, down 11.7 percent annually.

May’s public finances figures suggest the strong economic recovery is starting to feed through into lower government borrowing, Thomas Pugh, an economist at Capital Economics, said. This reinforces the assessment that the tax hikes and spending cuts that most fear may be avoided.

In the financial year-to-May, PSNB was estimated at GBP 53.4 billion, the second-highest financial year-to-May borrowing since monthly records began in 1993 and was GBP 37.7 billion less than in the same period last year.

Excluding banks, public sector net debt came in at GBP 2,195.8 billion at the end of May, or around 99.2 percent of GDP, the highest ratio since the 99.5 percent recorded in March 1962.

Sensex drops 186 points on profit-booking; Nifty ends below 15,800

Kotak Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1%, followed by ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra and Mahindra, SBI and Axis Bank

Equity benchmark Sensex declined 186 points on Tuesday, tracking losses in ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank and Infosys as investors booked profits at higher levels.

The 30-share BSE index ended 185.93 points or 0.35% lower at 52,549.66. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 66.25 points or 0.42% to 15,748.45.

Kotak Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1%, followed by ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra and Mahindra, SBI and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, HUL, NTPC, Dr Reddy’s and Nestle India were among the gainers.

According to Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities extended losses as profit-booking in financials, auto and metals dragged benchmark indices down. Weak cues from global markets also weighed on sentiments, he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with losses.

Stock exchanges in Europe were, however, trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.27% lower at $73.94 per barrel.

CNN Analyst Torches Barr: Watched The House Burn Down Then ‘Tossed His Drink On It’

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said Monday that former Attorney General Bill Barr’s recent efforts to distance himself from former President Donald Trump’s election lies are “image rehabilitation, pure and simple.”

Barr told The Atlantic in an interview published Sunday that he suspected all along that Trump’s electoral fraud claims were “bullshit.” Yet he played along with the charade at the time, and did not publicly dispute the lies until nearly a month after the election.

Honig, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN’s Erin Burnett that Barr was backtracking because he’s “very conscious of his image and the way he’s perceived.”

“What he’s not reminding us of is the fact that he publicly was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the big lie in months leading up to the election,” Honig said, adding: 

“It’s like if Bill Barr had helped to light a fire, fanned the flames, watched it burn down the house, and then only at the end sort of tossed his drink on it. He gets no credit for this. Let’s keep it straight. He was one of the biggest perpetrators of the ‘Big Lie.’ It’s on him.”

Watch below via Raw Story.

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