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The gold price rose to its highest level in nearly four weeks on Thursday. As of 3:00 p.m. EST, gold for August delivery had risen $25.20, or 2.1 percent, to $1,202.
The central bank’s updated monetary policy shows that all of its 17 members expect the federal funds rate to remain under 1 percent for 2015, with most seeing the rate between 0.5 percent and 0.75 percent. While that is still just a prediction and has dropped from the expectations put out by the group in March, it does signal that a hike is likely on the horizon. The news put downward pressure on the US dollar and in turn, gold and other commodities were given a boost.
However, even though the Fed downgraded its forecast for the economy this year, dropping its growth forecast to between 1.8 and 2 percent from its spring projection of 2.3 to 2.7 percent, a Fed press release sent out on Wednesday points out the positives.
“Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that economic activity has been expanding moderately after having changed little during the first quarter. The pace of job gains picked up while the unemployment rate remained steady,” it states. “Growth in household spending has been moderate and the housing sector has shown some improvement; however, business fixed investment and net exports stayed soft.”
Greece concerns bumps up gold
Worries about Greece also helped boost the gold price on Thursday. The country’s meeting with creditors is fast approaching, and according to The Wall Street Journal, Eurozone officials have said they would have to see “significant concessions” from Athens in order to bridge the rift in bailout negotiations.
“Time is running out as the current aid program for Greece runs out at the end of the month,” analysts at Commerzbank (ETR:CBK) said in a note to clients. “Without further financial aid, there is a real risk of national bankruptcy.”
Company news
Gold companies have also had a good week, with many making progress at their respective projects. One example is NioGold Mining (TSXV:NOX,OTCQX:NOXGF), which just released results from 25 drill holes at its Marban Block project; they show continuity in mineralized zones.
Meanwhile, Nevada Sunrise Gold (TSXV:NEV) found three strong changeability anomalies through ground geophysical surveys at its Roulette project. For its part, Pilot Gold (TSX:PLG) began a drill program, while Pure Gold Mining (TSXV:PGM) finished up drilling and released its final results.
On the financial front, Corvus Gold (TSX:KOR,OTCQX:CORVF) released a new preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its North Bullfrog project in Nevada on Tuesday, seeing a boost in share price. The PEA points to initial capex of $175 million for an after-tax NPV of $246 million and an IRR of 38 percent with a 2.2-year payback period. It was calculated for a gold price of $1,200 per ounce; however, the PEA also offers a $1,000-per-ounce price scenario that still places the IRR at 20.5 percent with a three-year payback period.
Securities Disclosure: I, Kristen Moran, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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