'Series of key events awaiting Gold during September'

NEW YORK (Scrap Monster): September will be an important month for gold, with a number of key events, said Ira Epstein, director of the Ira Epstein division of The Linn Group.

Moody’s will review Spain’s sovereign-debt rating, Spain will announce results of bank stress tests, the European Central Bank meets Sept. 6, Germany’s Constitutional Court is scheduled to rule on the legality of the country’s funding for the European Stability Mechanism on Sept. 12, and the Federal Open Market Committee meets mid-month.

Further, India’s seasonal demand tends to pick up, although it is not expected to be as strong as in past years. “So, it seems to me pretty clear that September is going to offer the markets with a series of events that have the potential to be market movers,” Epstein continued.

“Keep in mind that gold has traded basically sideways this year so I think it logical to assume that gold bulls are looking for a reason to jump into gold. Given all the events taking place in September and the seasonal tendency of gold to rally at this time of year, if gold doesn’t rally, the bulls will be very disappointed and the bears will come out of hibernation,” Epstein concluded.

Global gold prices ended the United States day session modestly lower on Thursday, on some more profit-taking and chart consolidation.

The key “outside markets” were in a bearish posture for the precious metals on Thursday, as the U.S. dollar index was firmer and crude oil prices were lower.

The overall market place remains quieter as traders and investors await a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday morning.

December gold last traded down $4.50 at $1,658.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Spot gold was last quoted unchanged at $1,657.00 an ounce. December Comex silver last traded down $0.457 at $30.465 an ounce.