Gold Fundamental Forecast, XAU/USD, Bullion - Talking Points
- The provision of further monetary and fiscal stimulus may buoy gold prices[1] as climbing Covid-19 cases ravage the US economy
- However, contraction of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet may hamper potential upside.
Fundamental Forecast for Gold: Mixed
Gold prices may continue to move higher after breaking to fresh 9-year highs on July 8 as market participants look forward to US second-quarter corporate earnings reports, with expectations of the largest decline since the 2008 global financial crisis.
This should come as no surprise with 32 of the 50 US states imposing restrictive lockdown measures by the end of March, hobbling the world’s largest economy.
Supportive monetary and fiscal policy has provided the perfect environment for bullion, with real yields at record lows and the US Dollar[2] substantially weakening from the unprecedented injection of liquidity.
Monthly Correlation Matrix (2019-Present)
Data Source – Bloomberg
This environment seems set to continue with several members of the Federal Reserve stressing the need for more action, in light of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the United States climbing above 3 million.
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida signaled “there’s more that we could do in terms of our balance sheet” as the increase of “cases in certain large states” is being “followed closely” by the central bank.
However, a glance at the central bank’s balance sheet itself paints an entirely different picture, with a sizable contraction recorded over the last 4 weeks.
Data Source - Bloomberg
Topping at a whopping $7.17 trillion on June 9, the central bank has notably tapered its asset purchasing program recently, with holdings declining $248 million to sit at a more ‘modest’ $6.92 trillion.
Coinciding with a resurgence in the US Dollar,
