Gold prices have been under pressure at the start of Friday, hitting a three-week low and as Reuters reports, the yellow metal is heading for its first weekly decline in five. At the time of writing, gold is trading at $1,755 while the greenback consolidates after a parabolic move due to prospects of more rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the return of geopolitical angst. Spot gold The precious metal was down 0.2% after falling to its lowest since July 29 at $1,753.68 in early Asian trading. For the week so far, the metal is down 2.5%.
There was an article that did the rounds by Bloomberg as the Tokyo session opened that sent the US dollar bid and risk-off. The article reported on President Xi Jinping's and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's plans to attend a Group of 20 summit on the resort island of Bali later this year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said.
“Xi Jinping will come. President Putin has also told me he will come,” Jokowi, as the president is known, said in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on Thursday. It was the first time the leader of the world’s fourth-most populous nation confirmed both of them were planning to show up at the November summit.
EUR/USD now loses some traction and slips back to the area of daily lows around 1.1630 on the back of a mild bounce in the US Dollar. Fresh US data, including the September PCE inflation numbers and the latest read on December consumer sentiment, didn’t really move the needle, so the pair is still on course to finish the week with a respectable gain.
GBP/USD is struggling to keep its daily advance, coming under fresh pressure and retreating to the 1.3320 zone following a mild bullish attempt in the Greenback. Even though US consumer sentiment surprised to the upside, the US Dollar isn’t getting much love, as traders are far more interested in what the Fed will say next week.
Gold is now losing the grip and receding to the key $4,200 region per troy ounce following some signs of life in the Greenback and a marked bounce in US Treasury yields across the board. The positive outlook for the precious metal, however, remains underpinned by steady bets for extra easing by the Fed.
Bitcoin is steadying above $91,000 at the time of writing on Friday. Ethereum remains above $3,100, reflecting positive sentiment ahead of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting on December 10.
Fed rate cut widely expected; dot plot and overall meeting rhetoric also matter. Risk appetite is supported by Fed rate cut expectations; cryptos show signs of life. RBA, BoC and SNB also meet; chances of surprises are relatively low.
Ripple is extending its decline for the second consecutive day, trading at $2.06 at the time of writing on Friday. Sentiment surrounding the cross-border remittance token continues to lag despite steady inflows into XRP spot ETFs.
