24th May 2017

 Gold fell on Tuesday, but we did not see anything to justify the approximately $10/ounce decline. About the only variable that was somewhat bearish was a stronger dollar, as a spike in geopolitical tensions following the Manchester bombing weighed both on the Euro and sterling. In fact, as we went out with this note, the British government raised its threat level to “critical” from “severe”, indicating that yet another attack may be in the cards. Also benefitting the dollar somewhat, is growing nervousness ahead of the Fed minutes out on Wednesday. Some commentators also point out that the rather austere US budget put forward by the Trump administration could be dollar-friendly as well, but we would not read too much into this variable, as the cutbacks in social programs are so severe that the budget will likely be dead on arrival.