When asked if he is influenced by political criticism by president Trump, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that, "We don't consider political factors or things like that. That's who we are. That's what we do. And that's just the way it's always going to be for us."

As traders await the conclusion of this month’s FOMC meeting, they will listen intently to the monetary policy statement released at the conclusion tomorrow.

Tomorrow the Federal Reserve will meet for this month’s FOMC meeting, which will conclude on Wednesday afternoon. The Federal Reserve conducts the Federal Open Market Committee meeting eight times a year, with only November and December remaining after this month.

Gaining 82 points on the day resulted in the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a new record high of 26,743.50.  This is the second consecutive day in which the Dow traded to a new all-time high. This strong risk-on market sentiment coupled with dollar strength put tremendous downside pressure on gold pricing today.

You might not know it by just looking at the net change of gold futures today, but it is dollar weakness that is keeping the current selloff in gold curtailed. Currently, the most active Comex contract (December) is trading up $3.60 on the day and fixed at $1211.90.

Gold futures closed higher on the day, with the most active Comex contract (December) currently up $5.40 at $1,208.30. However recent pricing in gold can be best characterized by the tight and narrow trading range, with major support at $1,190 and major resistance at $1,218.

As was widely expected, yesterday President Trump made good on his word to implement an additional $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the United States. In response to his action, the Chinese government added tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. imports. It seems, at least for now, both governments are using big sticks with no carrots in sight.

As of 4:00 PM Eastern standard time, market participants continue to focus upon the current trade dispute between the United States and China as they await news from the administration in regard to whether the United States will impose additional tariffs.

Gold pricing took a moderate hit today with the most active December Comex contract losing $9.40 to be currently fixed at $1,198.80 per ounce. After trading to its highest level this month when gold traded to $1,218 yesterday, a surge in dollar strength today put dramatic pressure on gold pricing.

Both gold and the U.S. dollar closed lower on the day as the current trade dispute between the United States and China continues to be unresolved, and the increased probability that Trump will impose additional tariffs is heightened.