GOLD & CRUDE OIL TALKING POINTS:
- Gold prices[1] down as US Dollar[2], Treasury yields reflect hawkish Fed
- Crude oil prices[3] pressuring chart support guiding six-month uptrend
- Fears of US/China trade war escalation might unleash risk aversion
Gold prices declined as US Treasury bond yields advanced alongside the US Dollar in anticipation of a hawkish Fed monetary policy announcement, sapping the appeal of non-interest-bearing alternatives. Crude oil prices likewise fell as the stronger greenback applied de-facto pressure on assets quoted in terms of the benchmark currency (as expected[4]).
For their part, Chair Jerome Powell and company did not disappoint. While rates remained unchanged as widely predicted, the statement released following the meeting of the policy-setting FOMC[5] committee sounded decidedly confident on growth and inflation prospects. That bolstered the probability of a fourth rate hike in 2018 to 58.8 percent, up from 56.5 percent recorded a week earlier.
TRADE WAR TENSIONS MAY HELP GOLD, HURT CRUDE OIL PRICES
From here, a lull in top-tier scheduled event risk may put sentiment trends in focus. Signs of escalation in trade war tensions between the US and China[6] pushed shares lower in Asia Pacific trade and futures tracking the FTSE 100[7] and S&P 500[8] equity benchmarks hint more of the same may be ahead. That might weigh on bond yields, offering gold a lifeline. Crude oil may suffer alongside other risky assets however.
Learn what other traders’ gold buy/sell decisions[9] say about the price trend!
GOLD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Gold prices remain locked in a
