Gold futures touched their lowest level of the year on Friday as the U.S. dollar’s rebound continued on the back of hawkish Federal Reserve rhetoric and shifting expectations about the number of likely interest-rate hikes.
Price action
-
Gold for April delivery
GC00,
-0.80% GCJ23,
-0.80%
fell $14.90, or 0.8%, to $1,836 per ounce on Comex after trading as low as $1,827.70 earlier in the day. -
March silver
SI00,
-1.87% SIH23,
-1.87%
declined by 41 cents, or 1.9%, to $21.40 per ounce. -
Palladium for March delivery
PAH23,
-3.49%
fell by $69.20, or 4.5%, to $1,456.50 per ounce, while platinum for April
PLJ23,
-1.86%
delivery fell by $16, or 1.7%, to $915 per ounce. -
Copper for March
HGH23,
-1.40%
fell by 5 cents, or 1.3%, to $4.082 per pound.
Market drivers
Gold prices hit the lowest level in 6 weeks and silver fell to the lowest level in 10 weeks in early trading Friday as U.S. stocks pulled back while the dollar and Treasury yields continued to march higher.
Analysts attributed the move in the yellow metal to expectations that the Federal Reserve could continue raising its policy interest rate in March, May and possibly June as well.
“The marketplace is now worried about the Federal Reserve being aggressively hawkish for a longer period of time. Metals traders are deeming that notion as bearish for global demand prospects, as central banks clamp down on their monetary policies in order to slow economic growth and in turn tamp down inflation,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco.com.
Traders have been pushing up the odds of ongoing interest rate hikes by the Fed through June.
Credit: marketwatch.com