- Traders are starting to believe that interest rates will stay high for a long time, which is not good news for the precious metal market.
- Federal Governor Michelle Bowman’s openness to raising rates further if inflation persists added a note of uncertainty, keeping gold above $1,800 for no
Gold has now hit a seven-month low at $1,830 just as the US government avoids a shutdown.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Congress passed a stopgap funding bill. This means that important government information won’t be delayed, and it won’t make it harder for the Federal Reserve to decide what they might do with interest rates.
Traders are starting to believe that interest rates will stay high for a long time, which is not good news for the precious metal market.
Traders think there is a 55% chance that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates between 5.25% and 5.50% this year, which might not be a great enough majority to convince gold traders to look for prices above $1,870 in the near term.
However, Federal Governor Michelle Bowman mentioned yesterday that she’s open to raising rates more if the data shows that inflation is not slowing down at a reasonable pace. Sentiment like this might keep gold above $1,800 for the time being though, See XAUUSD chart above, and limit gold bears from overcommitting to a larger downfall.
The next big data reports to affect the gold market will be this week’s job openings data, private hiring numbers and nonfarm payrolls.
