On Friday’s report I spoke about the fact that the major central banks have been quietly accumulating and adding to their gold reserves.

According to Forbes, beginning in 2010 the major central banks around the world began to become net purchasers of gold, rather than sellers of gold. According to their data in 2017 official sector activity rose 36% to 366 tons. Although the top 10 central banks with the largest gold reserves have remained mostly unchanged over the last few years.

Precious metals continue to react favorably as market participants and traders digest the most recent statement from the Federal Reserve which was released at the conclusion of yesterday’s FOMC meeting.

Traders and market participants waited with bated breath for the release of this month’s FOMC statement following conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee Meeting today. The anticipation was not alleviated until the end of the press conference which started one half hour after the FOMC meeting ended and the Fed statement was released.

They say that the only certainty is death and taxes. However, in the case of this month’s FOMC meeting, the CME FedWatch Tool is predicting that there is a 98.7% probability that the Federal Reserve will not announce an interest rate hike at the conclusion of tomorrow’s meeting.

There is a muted silence in the trading pits as gold futures are currently trading up $.30, with the most active April Comex contract currently fixed at $1303.20. Traders and market participants are awaiting the beginning of this month’s FOMC meeting, which will commence on Tuesday and conclude on Wednesday of this week.

Considering the impressive global equities recovery and rally resulting from bullish risk-on market sentiment, gold held up rather well this week. Even with yesterday’s strong $13 plus decline, the precious yellow metal will end the week with modest gains.

Except for palladium, all the major precious metals sustained strong declines today of 1% or greater. As of 3:30 PM Eastern standard time the largest decline was seen in platinum futures which gave up 1.94%, and after a $16.20 loss is currently fixed at $825.50. Silver was close behind giving up 1.75% on the day, and after a $.27 drawdown is currently fixed at $15.185.

Dollar weakness and bullish market sentiment have moved gold prices substantially higher today. As of 3:30 PM Eastern standard time spot gold is currently trading at $1310.80. The current price of spot gold reflects a net gain of $9.40 on the day.

Today in a vote of 391 to 242, the U.K. Parliament rejected Teresa May’s Brexit deal. This is the second time the British Parliament has rejected the Prime Minister’s proposed Brexit deal.