Westminster Mint

Chairman Bernanke might be calling for a few more coffee breaks, to kill some time before his 2 PM statement, as this morning’s economic data give little reason to debate the current direction of monetary policy. ADP private sector jobs data showed just 130,000 jobs added this month. That’s the lowest level of job add-ons since the beginning of Q2 2013. The more heavily relied upon data, the government jobs data, has been delayed until November 8^th because of the government hiatus.  On the inflation front, The U.S. Labor Department reported that the Consumer Price Index rose just .2% in in September with 12 month CPI up just 1.2%. Along with a 6.5% unemployment rate, a 2% inflation target was given as the criteria for any pull-back in QE. The precious complex is pushing higher ahead of the conclusion of the FOMC meeting. Gold closed the previous session at $1345.50 and now trades nearly 1% higher at $1356. The yellow metal found some resistance near the $1360 mark, having reached as high as $1359.90. Silver is up nearly 2.5% having closed the previous session at $22.492 and now trades near the higher end of the day’s range at $23.035. Platinum has moved more than 1% higher as well, now trading at $1478 after closing the previous session at $1461.90. The white metal continues to find support from potential strike action from the AMCU. Have a great day!