Spot gold headed for a second weekly decline as the dollar remained strong and outflows continued from bullion-backed exchange-traded funds.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has been supported by hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.28% for the first time since 2007 as traders start to price in a higher peak Fed policy rate. Non-interesting bearing gold is nearing its lowest mark since 2020.
Outflows from gold-backed ETFs are accelerating, a bearish signal for bullion. Holdings in the funds shrank by 12.5 tons on Wednesday, the biggest one-day decline since March 2021 and extending a plunge that’s endured for almost six months.
“Federal Reserve’s rate tightening going forward is weighing strongly on the markets and due to this negative undercurrent, the technical picture seems to be worsening for gold by the day,” said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director at Commtrendz Risk Management Services. Prices are now inclined to break below the psychological $1,600 level and could even extend to as low as $1,555 in the coming weeks, he said.
Gold fell as low as $1,617.33 an ounce, before trading down 0.4% at 10:24 a.m. in London. The precious metal is heading for a 1.4% weekly drop, and a decline below $1,614.96 would mark the lowest since April 2020. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.4%. Palladium, platinum, silver also fell.