Gold, Oil prices fall ahead of FOMC meeting [Video]

U.S. indices climb ahead of Fed rates decision

Indices in the United States were higher on Tuesday, as markets anticipated tomorrow’s FOMC meeting.

It is expected that the Fed will increase interest rates, and set the course for further tightening of monetary policy in order to combat inflation.

This comes as PPI figures were announced earlier today, and showed that the index rose by 0.8% in February.

Today’s figures were less than the 0.9% markets were expecting, and comes as the core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by only 0.2%.

Indices were buoyed by the data, with the S&P 500 climbing by 1.87% as of writing.

Gold falls further, as NATO summit confirmed

As indices rose, commodity prices fell, starting off with gold, which fell by its most since the start of the month.

The gold price fell to its lowest since March 1st, and came as it was announced that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were on-going.

News of this was followed by the announcement of a NATO summer later this month, which the U.S. President Joe Biden will attend. 

In a tweet referencing the meeting, NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg  said that, “We will address #Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine, our strong support for Ukraine, and further strengthening NATO’s deterrence & defence”.

XAUUSD hit an intraday low of $1,907 on the news.

Crude oil falls to 2-week low

Another commodity to trade lower today was crude oil, which also fell to a two week low.

Crude oil fell to an intraday low of $94.56 on Tuesday, which is its lowest level since February 28th. 

This is 27% lower than last week’s high, which saw WTI climb to almost $132 per barrel, which was its highest level since 2008. 

Today’s drop in price comes as OPEC stuck to its 2022 demand forecast, stating that "Looking ahead, challenges to the global economy – especially regarding the slowdown of economic growth, rising inflation and the ongoing geopolitical turmoil will impact oil demand in various regions".
 
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