Gold Retreats as Investors Await Signals from the US Central Bank on Interest Rates
Gold prices fell amid anticipation of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting, while Saudi Arabia announced two deaths in an attack on Aramco.
Translated by Qiyas from الراي — Original source
Gold prices fell at the start of Asian trading on Thursday, as market participants awaited next week’s monetary policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve (the US central bank) in search of clues about the future path of interest rates.
Spot gold dropped 0.6 percent to $4,115.50 per ounce by 00:40 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since October 15 at $4,104.33 on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy announced that two people were killed after the kingdom’s air defenses intercepted a drone attempting to strike a facility in the Shaybah oil field, operated by Saudi Aramco, on Wednesday.
Nearly all economists surveyed by Reuters expected the US central bank not to raise interest rates this month, as policymakers exercise patience despite stubborn inflation that calls for stricter measures.
These data represent a key indicator closely monitored by the central bank, which aims to bring inflation down to 2 percent.
According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, traders assign no more than a 16 percent probability that the US central bank will raise rates next week, but they expect a 90 percent likelihood of a rate hike in December.
Higher interest rates typically weigh on gold prices, as they increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion, which yields no return.
Among other precious metals, spot silver fell 1.1 percent to $57.33 per ounce, platinum declined 1.1 percent to $1,609.95, and palladium dropped 0.8 percent to $1,078.52.
