Fortescue cuts 700 jobs, slows down green hydrogen plans
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Gold rebounded on Friday but remains on course for its worst week in over three months after optimism about US debt-ceiling talks and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials prompted sharp declines.
Spot gold gained 0.8% to $1,974.33 per ounce by 11:55 a.m. EDT, having nearly fallen below $1,950 earlier in the day. US gold futures rose 1.0% to $1,978.70 per ounce.
[Click here for an interactive chart of gold prices]
“This is the week that gold really got crushed because there’s been a steady flow of that debt ceiling optimism and, in addition to that, some hawkish pushback from the Fed,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, in a Reuters note.
“You’re looking at a market here that is starting to grow more confident that the hard-landing, recession fears are somewhat easing.”
Gold might slide further into a range of $1,938-$1,947 per ounce, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
US President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have voiced growing confidence about striking a debt-ceiling deal to avoid a catastrophic default. That optimism spurred gains in Wall Street.
The US dollar inched lower on the day, easing from its highest since March and offering some respite to greenback-priced bullion.
Also weighing on appetite for non-yielding gold, a week of robust economic data lowered chances of rate cuts this year, with markets seeing a 60% chance of the Fed holding rates until July.
Speaking at a monetary conference Friday morning, Fed chair Jerome Powell said stresses in the US banking sector could mean that interest rates won’t have to be as high to control inflation.
Powell’s no-so-hawkish remark comes after two other US central bankers hinted Thursday that inflation is not cooling fast enough to hit pause on rate hikes.
(With files from Reuters)
