The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) came a day earlier following the minutes of its January meeting showed that policymakers expected to raise interest rates and keep them high.gold futuresIt closed lower on Thursday (23rd) and hit its lowest point so far this year.
- New York for April deliverygold futuresThe price fell $14.70, or 0.8%, to settle at $1826.80 an ounce.
gold futuresFalling for 4 consecutive days, FactSet data shows that this is the most actively tradedgold futuresLowest close since Dec. 30.
market drivers
Minutes of the Fed’s January 31-February 1 policy meeting, released Wednesday, showed policymakers’ firm support for plans to continue raising interest rates, but that wasn’t a surprise.
Analysts at Peak Trading Research said in a note that the minutes confirmed last week’s strong inflation data had suggested “we’re stuck in a trap of higher interest rates and a stronger dollar,” which is structural headwinds for commodity markets.
U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar have risen since early February as market participants raised expectations for the extent of U.S. rate hikes.Rising yields make holdinggoldThe opportunity cost of non-yielding assets rises, while a stronger dollar also raises the price of commodities denominated in dollars, which in turn reduces demand from buyers using other currencies.
Oanda senior market analyst Edward Moya said,goldAt a two-month low, it may confirm that the slowdown is accelerating before prices can rise meaningfully.
Still, U.S. economic growth slowed slightly to an annualized rate of 2.7% at the end of 2022, according to revised official figures released on Thursday, which were revised down from an initial estimate of 2.9%.
In addition, the Ministry of Labor announced that last week (ending 2/18) the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits decreased by 3,000 to 192,000.
Comex Metals Commodities Trading
- delivered in MarchSilver futuresThey fell 1.7 percent to settle at $21.306 an ounce.
- delivered in Marchcopper futuresThey fell 3.1 percent to settle at $4.059 a pound.
- delivered in AprilPlatinum FuturesIt fell 0.8 percent to settle at $945.50 an ounce.
- delivered in MarchPalladium FuturesIt fell 3.6 percent to close at $1,428.60 an ounce.
- delivered in JunePalladium Futuresfell 3.9 percent to close at $1,430.70 an ounce
