Gold Edges Lower After One-Month High as Markets Track U.S.–Iran Signals
Gold drifted lower on Wednesday after touching a one-month peak, as investors assessed the latest signals on the U.S.–Iran situation and what they could mean for the interest-rate outlook.
Spot gold was down 0.9% at $4,796.56 an ounce in early trade, after hitting its highest level since March 18 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for June delivery fell 0.6% to $4,820.50.
“Gold and silver are just seeing some mild and routine profit-taking after scaling overnight highs,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
Wyckoff added that in recent sessions gold has been rallying on improved risk appetite and selling off during bouts of risk aversion—running counter to its traditional safe-haven role. He said traders are currently more focused on the implications of tighter monetary policy and inflation pressures.
On geopolitics, U.S. President Donald Trump said talks with Iran aimed at ending the war could soon resume and culminate in a deal, telling observers to watch for an “amazing two days,” while U.S. forces enforcing a blockade turned back vessels leaving Iranian ports.
Oil prices gained as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained constrained. Forty-five days after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared the strait closed, transit through the waterway remains uncertain despite a two-week ceasefire.
On the policy front, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Tuesday the Federal Reserve may need to wait until 2027 to cut rates if an extended period of high oil prices linked to the Iran war delays inflation’s progress toward the central bank’s 2% goal. Markets currently price a 31% chance of a U.S. rate cut this year.
For gold, the key transmission channel remains rates and opportunity cost. Higher interest rates tend to weigh on bullion by increasing the cost of holding a non-yielding asset, potentially offsetting the metal’s appeal as an inflation hedge. Markets will keep watching U.S.–Iran developments, the Strait of Hormuz shipping backdrop feeding into energy prices, and incoming Fed signals on the rate path.
Source : Newsmaker.id
