Gold prices fell sharply on Thursday as the dollar climbed higher after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in the post monetary policy meeting press conference on Wednesday that “it was premature to be thinking about pausing” on rate hikes.
As widely expected, the Fed raised interest rate by 75 basis points on Wednesday.
“It is very premature to be thinking about pausing,” Powell said in his post-meeting press conference. “People when they hear ‘lags’ think about a pause.”
“It is very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hikes. We have a ways to go,” he added.
The dollar index surged to 113.15 and despite easing to 112.93, was up nearly 1.5% from the previous close.
Gold futures for December ended down $19.10 or about 1.2% at $1,630.90 an ounce, the lowest settlement for a most active contract since April 2020.
Silver futures for December ended lower by $0.164 at $19.430 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.4270 per pound, down $0.0415 from the previous close.
The Bank of England raised its benchmark rates by 75 basis points today, the biggest increase by the bank in 33 years.
In U.S. economic news today, data from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade gap widened to a three-month high of $73.3 billion in September, up from a downwardly revised $65.7 billion in August. Exports were down 1.1 percent at $258 million, while imports increased by 1.5 percent to $331.3 million in the month.
Data released by the Labor Department showed jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 217,000 in the week ended October 27th.
A report from Markit Economics showed the S&P Global US Composite PMI was revised higher to 48.2 in October 2022 from a preliminary estimate of 47.3, compared with September’s 49.5
Data released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for US manufactured goods rose by 0.3% in the month of September, up from a revised 0.2% uptick in the prior month. Orders for durable goods rose by 0.4% in September, after seeing a 0.2% increase a month earlier.
The Institute for Supply Management’s report showed the ISM non-manufacturing business activity in the U.S. fell to a reading of 55.7 points in October from 59.1 in the previous month.
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