Slight price rises in gold, silver as FOMC meeting looms

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are slightly higher in quieter U.S. trading early Friday. It appears the precious metals are pausing ahead of a busy U.S. data week next week, including inflation reports and the FOMC meeting. August gold was last up $1.60 at $1,980.20 and July silver was up $0.097 at $24.445.

The marketplace is looking ahead to next weeks FOMC meeting of the Federal Reserve, which begins Tuesday and ends Wednesday afternoon with a statement and press conference from Fed Chairman Powell. A majority of the marketplace thinks the Fed will pause in its interest-rate-tightening cycle. But now many market watchers think the U.S. central bank will follow the Bank of Canadas recent moves. The BOC this week raised interest rates by 0.25% after a four-month pause. Also next week comes the consumer price index and producer price index, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.