Los Angeles CA, August 22 (Tangible Investments) – by James O’Dell – Gold and Silver prices were lower in early trading on Monday with Gold down 0.46 percent to $1,335.60 an ounce after easing $12.10 or 0.89 percent on Friday to finish the week at $1,341.80 an ounce.

The price of Silver is down 2.06 percent to $18.93 an ounce, after sliding $0.43 or 2.18 percent on Friday to end the week at $19.33 an ounce while the Gold/Silver ratio rose to 69.42. Platinum is down 0.27 percent to $1,114.50 an ounce and Palladium is down 0.56 percent to $706.50.

Gold dipped to a two week low in early trading on Monday with Gold still range bound and analysts calling for a breakout. “The main story is that the range is getting tighter and tighter. The big question is which way it will break and we think it’s going to break on the upside,” said Jesper Dannesboe, of Societe Generale.

The dip in the Gold price follows a week of upbeat comments from Fed officials that have lifted the prospects for a rate hike sooner than expected. Stanley Fischer, the Fed’s second in command said Sunday that the U.S. central bank is close to hitting both inflation and employment targets. The central bank raised rates 25 basis points in December and it was the first increase in nearly a decade.

However, the Fed continues to send mixed messages after reducing the number of expected rate hikes from four this year to just two, in March. Then, in June six policymakers argued for just one rate hike for all of 2016, which was up from one official in March.

Meanwhile, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and based on Fed Fund Futures, the likelihood of a Fed rate increase by year-end rose to 51 percent this week. The odds for a move at the September 20-21 meeting are just 22 percent.

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