FX.co ★ Turmoil in precious metal market: Fed wants to speed up tapering

Gold has been bearish for four days in a row, showing its longest monthly fall. The currency fell amid a stronger US dollar.

Yesterday, the greenback advanced by 0.2% against its main counterparts. The US dollar index increased to 92.65 points. The Fed's recent tapering comments are believed to be behind the dollar's rally.

On Wednesday, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan said he would like to see the central bank announcing tapering of bond purchases in September and beginning it in October.

The lawmaker shared his opinion after the release of the Fed's Beige Book. The report logged a slowdown in economic recovery in the US in July-August amid the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. For that reason, the financial report that could boost the value of safe-haven gold did not have any impact on the quote.

Yesterday, the precious metal incurred losses for the second consecutive session. On Tuesday, gold lost 1.9%, showing its biggest monthly decline, and dropped by 0.3%, or $5, to $1,793.50 on Wednesday.

The asset has been bearish despite other positive factors. Growing COVID-19 concerns decreased risk appetite. However, it did not provide support to the safe haven.

Gold fell despite a 1.34% decline in 10-year bond yields on Wednesday.

The greenback is believed to be the main driver for gold. Its price depends on the interpretation of the Fed's monetary policy signals.

Meanwhile, the greenback remains bullish after yesterday's comments from Fed officials. At the moment of writing, the US dollar index added 0.1% to 92.74 points.

Against this backdrop, gold is likely to keep falling. Eary on Thursday, the quote was trading around its 2-weeks low of $1,798.45. The difference with the previous close is 0.22%, or $4.

Meanwhile, silver has been bearish as well. Today, the asset dropped by 0.47% to $23.942, compared with a 1.3% decrease on Wednesday.

Other precious metals also tumbled yesterday. Copper fell by 1.1% to $4.23. Platinum was down by 2% to $976.10. Palladium plunged by 5% to $2,237.30.