Gold Prices Fall Amid Rate Jitters; Copper Steady as China Stimulus Eyed 
The U.S. Treasuries were pushed lower across much of the curve on Tuesday post hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. We foresee that the Treasury prices will keep drifting between small gains and losses in quiet trading due to a long global Christmas holidays.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 3 basis points to 2.56 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yield climbed 2 basis points to 3.14 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note bounced more than 1 basis point to 1.24 percent by 12:00 GMT.
Overnight, the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen commented that the United States is now seeing its strongest labour market in nearly a decade as job creation has continued at a relatively steady pace. Also added that she has seen signs of wage growth improving and that weekly earnings for younger workers are making strong gains.
The Federal Open Market Committee increased the fed funds rate to a 0.50-0.75 percent range last Wednesday, as widely expected. The statement noted that information received since the November meeting indicates that the labour market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace since mid-year.
Also, the new projections showed that the central bankers expect three quarter-point rate increases in 2017, up from the two seen in the previous forecasts in September, based on median estimates.
Markets now look ahead to a lighter flow of data in the week ahead, highlighted by durable goods orders and final Q3 GDP releases on Thursday. Additionally, there is also a 5-year TIPS reopening on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 4.75 points higher at 2,264.75 by 12:20 GMT. While at 12:00 GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained highly bullish for second straight day at +118.24 (higher than +75 represents a bullish trend).
