Gold drops in anticipation of weekly statistics

The price of gold fell on Monday morning in anticipation of the macroeconomic statistics of the week, Report informs.

The price of August futures for gold on the New York Comex exchange fell by $7.05 (0.36%) to $1,957.35 per troy ounce. September silver futures fell 0.6% to $25.043 an ounce.

On Wednesday, Eurostat will release a final estimate of the dynamics of annual inflation in the eurozone. The preliminary estimate placed the indicator at 5.5% in June from 6.1% a month earlier. And on Thursday, the US Department of Labor will publish data on the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits. Analysts expect their number to increase by five thousand in the week to July 15, to 242,000.

Investors are also trying to assess the next move by the US Federal Reserve System (Fed), whose discount rate meeting will be held next week, July 25-26. According to the CME Group, 96.1% of analysts predict a 25 basis point hike to 5.25-5.5%. However, the slowdown in US inflation in June strengthens hopes that this increase will be the last in a long cycle of monetary tightening.