Friday, the University of Michigan said its preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 79.6, up slightly from January’s reading of 79.0. The data is roughly in line with expectations, as economists looked for a reading of around 80.
“The fact that sentiment lost no ground this month suggests that consumers continue to feel more assured about the economy, confirming the considerable improvements in December and January across various aspects of the economy. Consumers continued to express confidence that the slowdown in inflation and strength in labor markets would continue,” said Joanne Hsu, director of consumer survey at the university, in the report.
At the same time, inflation expectations remain relatively unchanged well within its range. The report said that consumers see inflation rise 3% by this time next year. Expectations are only a tick higher from 2.9% reported in January.
“Long-run inflation expectations remained at 2.9% for the third straight month, staying within the narrow 2.9-3.1% range for 28 of the last 31 months. Long-run inflation expectations were elevated relative to the 2.2-2.6% range seen in the two years pre-pandemic,” Hsu.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest economic data. April gold futures last traded at $2,010.90 an ounce, down 0.20% on the day.
Will gold prices hit another all-time high in 2024?
Gold prices soared to an all-time high of $2,135.39/oz at the end of 2023. With expected interest rate cuts and cooling inflation on the horizon, what is the gold price forecast for 2024 and beyond?
Key takeaways
- Gold prices touched an all-time high of $2,135.39/oz in December 2023, driven largely by a weak U.S. dollar and expectations the Fed will begin lowering rates.
- Fed interest rate cuts and falling U.S. real yields will once again become the key drivers behind gold prices in 2024.
- Gold prices are expected to dip in the near term before climbing to new highs later in the year, with a forecasted peak of $2,300/oz in 2024.
Buying gold now, in this current false positive stock market is a very good move. The pundits, (many of whom are bought and paid for by advertisers) quaintly refer to gold but really are mouthpieces for the equity markets .
Knowing some history gives todays investors a kind of map with advice based on real events, not a constant media barrage of the next big soft landing stories that hold less water than they did before the 2008 crash.
The real events are sobering, without big pharma, big tech and very big government (with the latest government employees jobs numbers a record) the stocks that remain in the main indexes are tepid at best in performance .
Lastly we have become a creature of the U.S. Federal Reserve , enough already the world is saying with our national debt over 34 trillion and a money graph that looks like a hockey stick.
Gold & especially silver will rise as they did after 2008 when those two metals nearly tripled in value in under three years after equities crashed -7,000 points.
History is coming for us all again folks, so keep some powder dry for metals because this time money itself is on trial.
Jack Dempsey, President
401 Gold Consultants LLC
jdemp2003@gmail.com