empty
15.02.2023 11:56 AM
Gold lost its trump cards

Investors' deep faith in a recession in the U.S. economy and in the Fed's dovish reversal acted as a guiding star for the XAUUSD bulls in November–January. Gold rose over this period by 21%, but as soon as cracks began to appear in the slender theory, it immediately collapsed to monthly lows. Strong statistics on the U.S. labor market in January, and the unwillingness of inflation to slow down as quickly as investors would like, put a spoke in the wheels of the precious metal.

It's hard to speculate about a recession when nonfarm payrolls are up by 517k per month, unemployment is falling to its lowest level since 1969, and average wages are up 4.6%, higher than 3.3% before the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who have been burying the U.S. economy are now struggling to justify themselves. Goldman Sachs has lowered the probability of a recession over the next 12 months to 25%. The market says that instead of a soft or hard landing, the plane of the U.S. economy is starting to gain altitude.

Under such conditions, the acceleration of January consumer prices to 0.5% and core inflation to 0.4% MoM looks logical. When domestic demand is high, prices have room to rise. They are not slowing down year-on-year the way investors would like. And the longer the path of inflation to the 2% target, the higher the likelihood of new local highs or bumps that will make the Fed nervous. How could it not, given the experience of the 1970s, when the central bank blinked, believing that the job was done and victory was achieved. The result is a new spike in CPI, a resumption of the cycle of monetary tightening, and another recession.

Dynamics of inflation in the United States

This image is no longer relevant

The Fed does not want to step on the old rake, so it does not take decisiveness now. New York Fed President John Williams does not rule out raising the federal funds rate to 5.5%. The futures market is giving a 94% probability of a 25bps hike in March, 80% in May and 52% in June. If these projections are confirmed, the USD index will continue to rise, and XAUUSD quotes will fall.

Fed Vice Chairman Lael Brainard's move to the White House economics team is also seen as bullish for the U.S. dollar. She had a less hawkish view than Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and that could affect the debate inside the FOMC.

This image is no longer relevant

Thus, the withdrawal of fears about an imminent recession and the shattered illusions about a dovish reversal by the Fed in 2023 deprived gold of its main trump cards. Against the background of the strengthening dollar and rising U.S. Treasury bond yields, the development of a pullback to the upward trend in the precious metal looks very likely.

Technically, on the daily chart of gold, the implementation of the Shark harmonic trading reversal pattern continues. The first of its two targets at 78.6% and 88.6% corresponds to $1775 per ounce. This gives grounds to sell the precious metal on the market as long as its quotes are below the $1,850 pivot point.

Marek Petkovich,
Analytical expert of InstaForex
© 2007-2025
Select timeframe
5
min
15
min
30
min
1
hour
4
hours
1
day
1
week
Earn on cryptocurrency rate changes with InstaForex
Download MetaTrader 4 and open your first trade
  • Grand Choice
    Contest by
    InstaForex
    InstaForex always strives to help you
    fulfill your biggest dreams.
    JOIN CONTEST

Recommended Stories

What to Pay Attention to on April 7? A Breakdown of Fundamental Events for Beginners

There are very few macroeconomic events scheduled for Monday. After last week's developments, we believe these events will have no impact on the movements of either currency pair. Nonetheless, today's

Paolo Greco 07:03 2025-04-07 UTC+2

EUR/USD Weekly Preview: U.S. Inflation Reports and the Fate of the "Big Tariffs"

The upcoming week promises to be just as volatile as the previous one. The so-called "big tariffs," which are set to take effect on April 9, are at the center

Irina Manzenko 06:13 2025-04-07 UTC+2

GBP/USD Pair Overview – April 7. The British Pound Delivered a Major Surprise on Friday

The GBP/USD currency pair rose 280 pips between Wednesday and Thursday, only to crash by 340 on Friday. These kinds of "flights" have become a regular occurrence lately. While

Paolo Greco 03:23 2025-04-07 UTC+2

EUR/USD Pair Overview – April 7. Nonfarms and Powell Saved the Dollar

The EUR/USD currency pair lost over 300 pips on Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday brought a strong recovery. No one would have been surprised if the dollar had continued falling

Paolo Greco 03:23 2025-04-07 UTC+2

XAU/USD. Analysis and Forecast

Gold is attracting some sellers for the second day in a row, despite the absence of any clear fundamental catalyst for a decline. Most likely, this is due to trading

Irina Yanina 11:50 2025-04-04 UTC+2

Old market rules broken

Someone is not telling the truth. Donald Trump insists that everything is going well and that the markets will flourish. But the S&P 500 just posted its worst 10-week start

Marek Petkovich 11:10 2025-04-04 UTC+2

The Growth of the Gold Price Has Stopped. What Is the Reason? (There Is a Possibility of a Local Corrective Pullback in #SPX and Bitcoin)

The global market crash triggered by the announcement of sweeping tariffs personally introduced by the U.S. President continues into Asian trading sessions. While the decline has slowed, there is still

Pati Gani 09:09 2025-04-04 UTC+2

What to Pay Attention to on April 4? A Breakdown of Fundamental Events for Beginners

Only a few macroeconomic events are scheduled for Friday, but they may trigger a new storm. The market has not yet recovered from Wednesday evening's events when Trump imposed trade

Paolo Greco 07:29 2025-04-04 UTC+2

GBP/USD Pair Overview – April 4: Does Anyone Still Care About Nonfarm Payrolls and Unemployment?

The GBP/USD currency pair posted a 300-pip upward move from Wednesday evening through Thursday. Given the current situation, this may not end the dollar's decline. To be honest, the fall

Paolo Greco 06:07 2025-04-04 UTC+2

EUR/USD Pair Overview – 4: Trump's Tariffs Crash the Dollar Once Again

The EUR/USD currency pair gained nearly 300 pips between Wednesday and Thursday. We saw a repeat of the situation in early March when the U.S. dollar fell by 400 pips

Paolo Greco 06:06 2025-04-04 UTC+2
Can't speak right now?
Ask your question in the chat.
Widget callback
 

Dear visitor,

Your IP address shows that you are currently located in the USA. If you are a resident of the United States, you are prohibited from using the services of InstaFintech Group including online trading, online transfers, deposit/withdrawal of funds, etc.

If you think you are seeing this message by mistake and your location is not the US, kindly proceed to the website. Otherwise, you must leave the website in order to comply with government restrictions.

Why does your IP address show your location as the USA?

  • - you are using a VPN provided by a hosting company based in the United States;
  • - your IP does not have proper WHOIS records;
  • - an error occurred in the WHOIS geolocation database.

Please confirm whether you are a US resident or not by clicking the relevant button below. If you choose the wrong option, being a US resident, you will not be able to open an account with InstaForex anyway.

We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by this message.