Wall Street marks time as Fed meeting looms

US indices posted modest gains yesterday though volumes were thin. The Federal Reserve’s rate meeting is keeping everything on hold with expectations high that rate cuts will be considered in the future.

US30USD Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

• The US30 index closed marginally in the black yesterday and has opened little changed this morning, with all eyes now on the Fed meeting today and tomorrow

• The index is trapped between the 55-day moving average at 25,989 and the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the April-June drop at 26,226

• US housing starts are expected to fall 0.4% m/m in May following a 5.7% gain in April. Building permits are also seen declining by 2.9% m/m in the same month.

DE30EUR Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

• The Germany30 index fell for a second straight day yesterday but has started positively this morning

• The index is still above the 55-day moving average at 12,066, which has supported prices on a closing basis since June 3

• The economic sentiment index of Germany’s ZEW survey is seen deteriorating to -5.8 in June from -2.1 in May, latest surveys show. The Euro-zone reading is seen worsening to -3.6 from -1.6.

XAU/USD Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

• Gold snapped a three-day rising streak yesterday as the US dollar extended gains ahead of the FOMC meeting

• The precious metal spiked above the 1,350 level on Friday for the first time since April last year, but closed little changed at 1,342

• Rate cut expectations for this Fed meeting have been scaled back to just 18% from near 30% late last week. This has given the US dollar a lift and has taken the shine off gold, for now.