Gold and the dollar (archive)
Thursday, July 20, 2023 / 09:06
Gold prices rose today, Thursday, to the highest level in 9 weeks, thanks to the weakness of the dollar, and bets that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) may soon stop the cycle of raising interest rates.
By 0325 GMT, it had risen gold In spot transactions, it rose 0.5% to $1987.18 an ounce, the highest level since mid-May. US gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,988.80.
“It is likely that we will reach the end of the Fed’s rate hike at the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (on July 26),” said Baden Moore, Head of Carbon and Commodity Strategy at the National Australia Bank.
Low interest rates help gold because they reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
The dollar index fell 0.2%, near its lowest level in more than a year, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.
It is expected to raise American Central Interest rates by 25 basis points at its meeting next week, to keep them in the range of 5.25-5.5% in 2023, according to CME’s “Feed Watch” tool.
Prices change
And by 0325 GMT, spot gold rose 0.5% to $1987.18 an ounce, the highest level since mid-May.
US gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,988.80.
As for other precious metals, silver increased in spot transactions by 0.3% to $25.23 an ounce, platinum rose 0.1% to $973.81, while palladium fell 0.2% to $1,305.54.
