CHARTS: The coming critical minerals trade war is BRICS short of a load
"While a large number of countries around the world continue to talk about securing raw material supply, China is actually doing something about it."
Gold prices continued to retreat on Tuesday as some traders booked profits after a strong run towards a one-year peak driven by the banking crisis ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
Spot gold fell 1.5% to $1,948.39 per ounce by 11:30 a.m. EST, while US gold futures were down 1.6% to $1,951.60 per ounce in New York.
[Click here for an interactive chart of gold prices]
The precious metal briefly rallied to $2,009.59 per ounce on Monday, its highest since March 2022, but has since pulled back.
Meanwhile, benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields were close to session highs and the dollar index stayed flat.
The Fed will begin a two-day meeting later on Tuesday, with some top central bank watchers saying it could pause further rate hikes.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets are pricing in a 18% chance the Fed will stand pat and a 82% likelihood of a 25 basis points hike.
“The market wants to hear what they have to say, what (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell has to say about what’s going on in the banking sector and ways to combat that, most likely by slowing rate hikes,” said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures, told Reuters.
“There’s some doubt out there about how he’ll say it and what he’ll say. That’s why gold is lower, with some profit taking also to blame,” Haberkorn added.
Still, bullion has gained nearly $100 since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month as investors steered towards safe havens.
Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund New York’s SPDR Gold Trust have registered consecutive inflows.
“We could see some marginal selling activity below the $1,950/oz mark, but expect that the combination of strong physical demand and resurgent investor flows should keep (gold) prices from tumbling,” TD Securities said in a note.
Those at Sprott, however, are more optimistic, with CEO Whitney George predicting gold to reach new highs in a Bloomberg interview.
After a market downturn, “the minute liquidity is restored back into the global market, gold seems to be always be the first thing to recover, and then often hits new highs,” he said.
(With files from Bloomberg and Reuters)
