Gold falls in price

Gold prices fell on May 18 morning, as investors are waiting for the release of new statistical data, Report informs referring to the auction data.

The price of June gold futures on the New York Comex exchange fell by $3.55 (0.18%) to $1,981.25 per troy ounce. July silver futures fell 0.49% to $23.78 an ounce.

Investors are waiting for the publication of new macro statistics, primarily from the US, in order to assess the state of the country's economy, as well as the next step of the Federal Reserve System. On May 18, the US Department of Labor will publish data on the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the country. Analysts suggest that in the week to May 13, the indicator fell by 10,000 after rising by 22,000 the previous week, to a maximum since October 2021.

Another factor playing against gold could be the US government debt ceiling discussion. Earlier this week, President Joe Biden, at a meeting at the White House, expressed optimism about the prospect of a resolution to the problem. A number of major experts also gave a positive assessment, including the head of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon.