This post was originally published on this site
Gold and silver prices settled lower on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and Treasury yields advanced further beyond the 4% mark.
Price action
-
Gold futures for December delivery
GCZ23,
-1.25% GC00,
-1.35%
fell $21.60, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,634.20 per ounce on Comex. Prices for the most-active contract marked their lowest finish since Sept. 26, FactSet data show. -
December silver
SIZ22,
-1.18%
shed 24 cents, or 1.3%, to $18.359 per ounce. -
December palladium futures
PAZ22,
-1.21%
were down $18.40, or 0.9%, at $1,995.50 per ounce, while January platinum
PLF23,
-2.60%
shed $26.20, or 2.9%, to $881.10 per ounce. -
Copper futures due in December
HGZ22,
-1.13%
fell 4 cents, or 1.3%, to $3.318 per pound.
What’s happening
Losses on Wednesday have pulled gold futures lower for the week.
“Truth be told, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for the metal,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, in market commentary. “Fears over further tightening of central bank policy amid an environment of high-inflation and low-growth meant investors were never going buy gold aggressively.”
“Lo and behold, that’s how it proved again today, as the metal has broken down with the dollar rising,” said Razaqzada.
The path of least resistance for gold is “to the downside and as support after support breaks, this will give rise to further technical selling,” he said. “A drop below September’s low at $1,615 looks very likely now, with $1,600 being the next target for the bears.”
Precious metals analysts blamed hawkish commentary from Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari for the weakness in gold and silver prices on Wednesday. In remarks Tuesday afternoon, Kashkari said the Fed may need to hike interest rates past 4.75% to tame inflation.
Comments from Kashkari were a stark reminder of the difficult macroeconomic environment gold finds itself in with central banks across the world looking to increase interest rates, further diminishing gold’s appeal due to its lack of yield, wrote Rupert Rowling, a market analyst for Kinesis Money.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
a gauge of the greenback’s strength against a basket of rivals, rose 0.8% to 112.994.
Meanwhile, the yields on the 2-year and 10-year Treasurys moved further past the 4% mark, with the 2-year
TMUBMUSD02Y,
up 9.8 basis points to 4.5457% and the 10-year
TMUBMUSD10Y,
up 11.4 basis points to 4.117%.
