Yields rebounded following Bidens speech supporting Powell, warning Russia and rejecting peace with China.
PBOC action, risk catalysts will entertain traders ahead of second-tier US data, previous support line eyed for direction
Gold price is preserving the previous rally, as it sits close to fresh two-month highs of $1,844 reached in early Asia. The bullish potential in the bright metal appears intact despite the persistent strength seen around the US Treasury yields across the curve. Gold price benefited amid soaring inflation in the UK and Germany, as investors boosted its demand as an inflation hedge. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden also called out the Fed to rein in the fastest pace of inflation in decades.
Looking ahead, the yields price action and the US dollar valuations will continue to play, with all eyes on the Eurozone final CPI release. The US weekly Jobless Claims and Existing Home Sales data could also offer some trading incentives.
Gold (XAU/USD) pares the stellar gains posted the previous day around $1,839, down 0.22% intraday during the initial Asian session as market sentiment sours.
The yellow metal jumped to the two-month high on Wednesday after the US Treasury yields stepped back from a multi-day peak and drowned the US dollar. However, the latest speech from US President Joe Biden renewed hopes of faster monetary policy normalization by the Federal Reserve (Fed), which in turn favored bond coupons and dragged the gold prices.
US President Biden highlights Chief Trade negotiator Katherine Tais efforts to placate Sino-American trade tussles. However, he also mentioned that the US is “'not there yet' on possible easing of tariffs on Chinese goods”. Biden also said, “China is not meeting its purchase commitments.”
Further, comments favoring Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powells push to recalibrate the support also raised concerns over faster rate hikes and balance sheet normalization, which in turn exerted additional downside pressure on the gold prices.
Additionally, US President Biden directly warned Russia not to invade Ukraine and if they do theyll lose access to the US dollar.
Elsewhere, uncertainty surrounding the US stimulus and the People‘s Bank of China’s (PBOC) next moves also weighed on the gold prices. US President Biden signaled that the talks on the Build Back Better (BBB) stimulus is on but US Senator Joe Manchin rejects the comments. Further, the PBOC is up for conveying its Interest Rate Decision at 01:30 AM GMT with market players equally divided amid the Chinese central banks early signals of a rate cut and the latest comments from PBOC Deputy Governor Liu Guoqiang. The PBOC official mentioned that the central bank “will keep yuan exchange rate basically stable.”
Against this backdrop, the US 10-year Treasury yields rose 4.5 basis points (bps) to 1.87% whereas the S&P 500 Futures drop 0.15% intraday to portray the risk-off mood at the latest.
Even so, gold prices do trade beyond the short-term key resistance and hence todays PBOC verdict, as well as risk catalysts, will be important for the watch during Asia. Following that, US Jobless Claims, Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for January and Existing Home Sales for December will entertain gold traders afterward.
