Gold poised for fourth weekly loss on hawkish Fed bets
- Spot gold fell 0.6% to $4,002.77 per ounce
Gold is set for its fourth weekly fall, pressured by a strong dollar and expectations of faster U.S. rate hikes to combat rising inflation, despite gold's traditional role as an inflation hedge.
- Strong dollar's impact on gold prices.
- Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hike outlook.
- Rising U.S. inflation and gold's diminishing appeal.
Gold was set on Friday for a fourth straight weekly fall, as a resilient dollar and expectations of faster U.S. rate hikes to tame inflation kept bullion pressured near $4,000 per ounce.
Spot gold fell 0.6% to $4,002.77 per ounce by 0441 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August delivery lost 0.7% to $4,017.30.
For the week, bullion was on track for a loss of 3.8%, having slipped below the key $4,000 level for the first time since November 2025 on Wednesday.
“The rapid repricing of the hawkish Fed created a strong bullish momentum in the U.S. dollar, which eventually led to this significant downward drift in gold prices,” said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
The U.S. dollar index held near its strongest level since May 2025 and was headed for a second straight weekly gain, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Wong sees the multi-month correction in gold, since the record high reached in late January, extending towards $3,400 in the long term.
Gold prices have fallen about 29% from the record high of $5,594.82 on January 29, as inflation fuelled by the U.S.-Iran war ramped up rate-hike bets.
Data on Thursday showed that U.S. inflation increased further in May, breaking above 4.0% for the first time in three years, as forecast by economists surveyed by Reuters.
Although gold is typically viewed as a hedge against inflation, it tends to lose its appeal as a non-yielding asset in a high-interest-rate environment.
Traders expect three Fed rate hikes this year and are pricing in about a 64% chance of a September increase, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Among other metals, spot silver fell 2.6% to $56.39 per ounce, platinum lost 2% to $1,568.55, and palladium slid 0.6% to $1,177.12. All metals were headed for a weekly loss.
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