© Reuters. Gold bullion in Mumbai, India, in a photo from Reuters archives.
(Reuters) – The price of gold stabilized on Wednesday after a significant decline in the previous session, as statements by a Federal Reserve official (the US central bank) weakened expectations about cutting interest rates in March.
The price did not change and remained at $2,027.62 per ounce by 0236 GMT, after falling 1.3 percent in the previous session, which is the largest drop in one day since December 4.
The American price changed slightly to $2030.90.
Christopher Waller, a member of the US Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, said on Tuesday that although the United States is “close to” the inflation target set by the central bank of two percent, the bank should not rush to cut the benchmark interest rate until it is clear that the decline in inflation will continue.
Traders are waiting to hear more comments from US Central Bank officials this week.
Waller’s comments sparked widespread selling, sending the three major US stock indexes lower. His comments pushed record revenues to the highest level in more than a month and recorded the largest increase in more than three months on Tuesday.
A stronger dollar would make bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies, while higher interest rates reduce the appeal of non-yielding gold.
Market expectations for an interest rate cut in March fell to a chance of 62.2 percent, compared to 76.9 percent in the previous session, according to the CME Fed Watch tool.
However, markets are still betting on six interest rate cuts this year, by 25 basis points each time.
Regarding other precious metals, platinum and platinum fell by 0.1 percent separately. The price of silver in spot transactions reached $22.89 per ounce, platinum $894.29, and palladium $937.52.
(Prepared by Mahmoud Reda Murad for the Arabic Bulletin)
2024-01-17 03:59:00
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