Gold eases as investors await Fed signals on rate path
Spot gold falls 0.6% to US$4,115.50 per ounce by 0040 GMT
[BENGALURU] Gold slipped in early Asian trade on Thursday (Oct 22) as market participants looked ahead to next week’s US Federal Reserve policy meeting for guidance on the trajectory of interest rates.
Spot gold fell 0.6 per cent to US$4,115.50 per ounce by 0040 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Oct 15 at US$4,104.33 on Wednesday.
US gold futures for December delivery dropped 0.4 per cent to US$4,132.30.
Two people were killed after Saudi air defences intercepted a drone that was attempting to hit a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field on Wednesday, the energy ministry said.
The US State Department has ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and plans to withdraw family members from a number of other US missions in the region, US officials told Reuters.
The Fed will skip raising interest rates in October and deliver a hike in December, according to nearly all economists polled by Reuters, as policymakers signal patience even as stubborn inflation argues for a tougher response.
Market focus is on the Fed’s Oct 27 to 28 policy meeting and next week’s Personal Consumption Expenditures data, a key gauge closely watched by the central bank as it targets a 2 per cent inflation rate.
Traders see just a 16 per cent chance of a rate hike next week but are pricing in a 90 per cent likelihood of an increase in December, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Higher interest rates typically weigh on gold prices because they increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion, which does not pay interest.
The eurozone economy has weathered 2026’s energy shock better than expected, with lower dependence on fossil fuels, stronger fiscal support and an artificial intelligence investment boom helping sustain growth, European Central Bank economists said on Wednesday.
Among other metals, spot silver lost 1.1 per cent to US$57.33 per ounce, platinum slid 1.1 per cent to US$1,609.95 and palladium fell 0.8 per cent to US$1,078.52. REUTERS
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