Gold holds firm tone ahead of Fed minutes

Slobodan Drvenica Windsor Brokers

Spot gold regained traction on Wednesday and bounced 0.5% following Tuesday’s 1% drop, keeping steady tone on strong demand as safe haven against geopolitical tensions and a hedge against inflation.

Traders await release of Fed minutes of its Jan 25/26 policy meeting, due later today, to get more clues about the US central bank’s next steps.

The US Federal Reserve signaled it will start its tightening cycle in March, with 0.25% hike, but a number of market participants expects more aggressive approach after inflation in January surged to a 40-year high, and bet for 0.5% raise of interest rates.

Economists expect inflation to remain stubbornly high that would prompt the Fed to act faster than expected, with such scenario to be negative for gold as higher interest rates increase cost of non-yielding metal.

Technical studies on daily chart remain bullish but somewhat extended that may slow bulls on attempts towards key barriers at $1876/79 (50% retracement of $2074/$1677 descend / 20-d upper Bollinger band /2022 high) which guard targets at $1900/23 (round-figure / Fibo 61.8%).

Solid supports lay at $1841/36 (Fibo 38.2% of $1780/$1879 upleg / rising 10DMA), with break here to sideline bulls for deeper pullback.

Res: 1865; 1874; 1879; 1881
Sup: 1856; 1850; 1844; 1841

Author

Slobodan Drvenica

Windsor Brokers

Industry veteran with over 22 years’ experience, Slobodan Drvenica joined Windsor Brokers in 1995 when he was an active trader for more than 10 years, managing the trading desk and own account departments.

GBP/USD appears well offered near 1.3160

GBP/USD builds on Tuesday’s losses, although it now manages to pick up some pace and bounce off earlier multi-month troughs near 1.3140. The Greenback’s solid performance and continued political turmoil in the UK are keeping Cable under persistent pressure, with little sign of a meaningful recovery.

EUR/USD trims losses, hovers around 1.1350

EUR/USD now regains some composure and rebounds to the 1.1350 zone on Wednesday, partially reversing the prior pullback to fresh yearly lows near 1.1320. Meanwhile, spot remains on the back foot as the US Dollar continues to draw support from hawkish Fed expectations and uncertainty over the outcome of US-Iran peace negotiations.

Gold puts $4,000 to the test, new yearly lows

Gold accelerates its decline and gyrates around the key $4,000 mark per troy ounce on Wednesday, its lowest level since November 2025. In the meantime, tighter-for-longer Fed expectations and a broadly firmer US Dollar continue to weigh on the yellow metal, while uncertainty surrounding a potential US-Iran peace agreement has done little to revive demand for the safe haven space.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP trade under pressure as September Fed rate-hike odds increase

Bitcoin is trading between $62,000 and $63,000 at the time of writing on Wednesday, weighed down by headwinds stemming from macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

5.90% to 5.45%: Why the Pound ignored the bond market’s relief rally

Keir Starmer resigned on Monday, and the Pound barely moved. That near-silence is the tell. Sterling's real driver these past four months has not been the prime minister, nor the left-leaning frontrunner lining up to replace him, but the long end of the gilt curve, which answers to a force no British politician controls.

Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.