Gold prices fell by more than $5 during trading today, Thursday, May 18 (2023), to continue bleeding losses for the third consecutive session, with the rise of the US currency.
This comes amid investor optimism about the US debt ceiling talks, which supported the dollar to rise to the highest level in 7 weeks.
Gold prices today
By 07:12 am GMT (10:12 am Mecca time), the yellow metal futures – August 2023 delivery – fell by 0.26%, equivalent to $ 5.20, recording $ 1998.50 an ounce.
And gold prices ended their dealings yesterday, Wednesday, May 17, with a decrease of more than $ 8, to continue bleeding losses for a second day, with the rise of the US dollar, recording its lowest level in 7 weeks.
The spot price of gold also decreased by 0.24%, to reach $ 1977.14 an ounce, according to information monitored by the specialized energy platform.
At the same time, the price of silver futures contracts – delivery of July 2023 – decreased by 0.68%, to $ 23.74 an ounce.
The spot platinum price decreased by 0.67%, to reach $1066.83 an ounce, while the spot palladium price fell by 0.86%, to $1474.75 an ounce.
Concurrently, the dollar index – which monitors the performance of the US currency against 6 major currencies – rose by 0.05%, at 102.94 points.
Gold price analysis
Gold could remain in the range between $1.965 and $2020 over the next two weeks, said Marex metals analyst Edward Meir, but the overall trend remains somewhat subdued as growing optimism around the debt ceiling is also likely to put pressure on bullion.
Meir added that many of the macroeconomic numbers in the US came out stronger than expected and this leads to perceptions that the Federal Reserve is not likely to pause in June, and that the specter of higher interest rates bears down on gold.
US President Joe Biden and Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy confirmed yesterday, Wednesday, their intention to reach an agreement soon to raise the federal government’s debt ceiling of $ 31.4 trillion and avoid a catastrophic economic slump.
interest rates
In the broader market, stock indices rose in the Asia-Pacific region, after Wall Street advanced, according to data seen by the specialized energy platform.
“To some extent, there has been an initial advance with the debt ceiling, and that removes some of the uncertainty in the market, and gives a modest boost to sentiment,” said Christopher Wong, strategist at OCBCFX, adding that this affected gold prices. Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the markets are placing a 76.2% chance that the US central bank will hold rates at current levels in June.
Rising interest rates weaken the appeal of the non-yielding yellow metal.
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