US average 30-year mortgage rate rises to 3.46 percent

Precious metals were trading slightly lower across the board, with December gold futures edging down $3.80 or 0.3% to $1,323.30 a troy ounce.

Speaking at an annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the case for a US interest rate rise has strengthened in recent months because of improvements in the labour market and expectations of solid economic growth.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 64 cents to $47.00.

Stock futures struggled for traction on Monday after last week’s speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen revived expectations that the central bank could raise interest rates by the end of this year. Fischer added in an interview on Tuesday that the USA job market is almost at full strength.

Still, Deutsche Bank Chief U.S. Economist Joseph LaVorgna said the Fed remains a hostage to markets and will not hike at its September 20-21 meeting. “The rising dollar and USA real rates have also been creating headwinds”.

“Stocks are extended and not cheap, and there’s no immediate catalyst other than momentum to make stocks go higher”, said Jim Awad, managing director at Plimsoll Mark Capital in NY, on the dip in U.S. shares overall. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, posted the first monthly dip in August in four months.

Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

The pace of rate hikes is heavily dependent on US economic data.

Ahead of that, ADP employment data, which tracks private payrolls, and the Chicago purchasing managers’ index (PMI) are due later on Wednesday.

“Private payroll data out of the US will help to give the market some direction”, MKS said in a note.

The pound is forecast to fall close to 4 percent over the next six months from Thursday’s US$1.32. Japanese stocks, however, bucked the downbeat trend as the yen tumbled against the dollar on the fresh Fed thinking (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-rockets-to-two-week-high-versus-yen-as-fed-officials-signal-rate-hikes-2016-08-29).

Silver was up 1 percent at $18.75 an ounce.

EUR/USD rose 0.27% to at 1.1185, off session lows of 1.1128. But it slipped 0.5 percent against the South Korean won.