Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD plunges to new two-year-lows below $1640

 

• Gold price tanked to new two-and-half years low at $1638.90.
• Global S&P PMIs revealed in the EU, UK, and the US sparked investors’ recession fears, increasing appetite for the safe-haven US dollar.
• Gold Price Analysis: A break below $1638 to send XAU/USD towards $1600.
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Gold price slides to fresh two-and-half-year lows dampened by a risk-off mood and flows towards the US dollar, which rose to new two-decade highs. Overall, US dollar strength and higher US Treasury bond yields are two reasons for the fall in the precious metals complex, mainly the yellow metal. At the time of writing, XAU/USD is trading at $1643.50 a troy ounce.

US equities dropped as Wall Street closed with hefty losses between 1.62% and 1.80% on Friday. The US 10-year benchmark note rate retraced from yielding 3.829% and is set to end the week below the 3.70% threshold. On the same note, the US 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) bond yield weighed on the non-yielding metal, set to finish at 1.33%.

When is the European Central Bank (ECB) rate decision and how could it affect EURUSD?

ECB monetary policy decision – Overview

The European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to announce its monetary policy decision this Thursday at 12:15 GMT, which will be followed by the post-meeting press conference at 12:45 GMT. The ECB is all but certain to hike its benchmark interest rates for the first time since 2011. Markets, meanwhile, are split on whether the ECB policymakers would stick to the previously telegraphed 25 bps increase or raise rates by 50 bps to curb runaway inflation.

According to Dhwani Mehta, Senior Analyst at FXStreet: “The ECB will deliver a 50 bps lift-off this month, in the wake of rampant inflation, resumption of the Russian gas supply and the fact that the ECB is way behind the curve. It’s also worth noting that front-loading rates now may allow the central bank some room to pause or go slower on rate hikes when a recession hits.”

How could it affect EURUSD?

Given that the ECB has pre-committed to start the rate-hike cycle in July, a 25 bps increase is fully priced into the markets and might do little to provide a meaningful impetus to the shared currency. A bigger move, meanwhile, could trigger a sharp rise in the bond yields for highly indebted countries. The risk, however, could be mitigated if the ECB announces details of its new anti-fragmentation tool. Nevertheless, the event is likely to infuse some volatility around the euro cross and produce some meaningful trading opportunities around the EURUSD pair.

Eren Sengezer, European Session Lead Analyst at FXStreet, outlined important technical levels for the EURUSD pair: “On the downside, 1.0170 (Fibonacci 38.2% retracement of the latest downtrend) aligns as first support ahead of 1.0100 (psychological level, Fibonacci 23.6% retracement, 50-period SMA on the four-hour chart). In case the latter fails, the pair, once again, could test parity. Resistances are located at 1.0200 (psychological level), 1.0220 (Fibonacci 50% retracement, 100-period SMA) and 1.0270 (Fibonacci 61.8% retracement).”

About the ECB interest rate decision

ECB Interest Rate Decision is announced by the European Central Bank. Usually, if the ECB is hawkish about the inflationary outlook of the economy and rises the interest rates it is positive, or bullish, for the EUR. Likewise, if the ECB has a dovish view on the European economy and keeps the ongoing interest rate, or cuts the interest rate it is seen as negative, or bearish.

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📕 Comment on Gold on June 3, 2022:

 

📕 Comment on Gold on June 3, 2022:

 - In yesterday's session, precious metal Gold went right with the analysis trend when it bounced up from 1844 to 1870 ($26) and closed the day session with a bullish candle around 1868. The strength of the tree.  Yesterday's candle was the strongest in the past 9 sessions.  Therefore, in my opinion, the possibility of Gold will continue to increase in today's session.

 - Switch to the H4 time frame, the nearest support area for this precious metal is around 1863-1867.  Here we can refer to buying with a safe target below 1874 and above 1880.

EUR/USD extends ECB-inspired rally to mid-1.0500s

 EUR/USD has extended its daily rally and reached its highest level in nearly a week above 1.0550. Hawkish comments from ECB policymaker Klaas Knot and the broad-based dollar weakness in the risk-positive environment continue to fuel the pair's upside as focus shifts to US data.

 The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator on the four-hour chart stays below 70 while holding above 50, suggesting that the pair has more room on the upside before turning technically overbought. 

On the upside, 1.0480 (50-period SMA, Fibonacci 50% retracement of the latest decline) aligns as initial resistance. In case this level turns into support, 1.0500 (psychological level, Fibonacci 61.8% retracement) and 1.0530 (100-period SMA) could be seen as the next recovery targets.

Supports are located at 1.0450 (Fibonacci 38.2% retracement), 1.0420 (Fibonacci 23.6% retracement) and 1.0400 (psychological level).

Russia's Putin: Will react to expansion of military infrastructure in Finland, Sweden

 Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the expansion of NATO is a problem and it is in the interests of the USA, reported Reuters. Russia has no problems with Finland and Sweden, he continued, but Russia will react to the expansion of military infrastructure in these countries. Putin added that Russia needs to pay additional attention to NATO plans to increase its global influence. 

Finland and Sweden both announced their commitment to applying for NATO membership over the weekend and most NATO nations have come out in support. 

📕 Comment on Gold on May 9, 2022:

 

📕 Comment on Gold on May 9, 2022:

 - On Friday, the US released Nonfarm payrolls data, this data was better than market expectations but only caused Gold to decline slightly to 1875. Gold then bounced up to close the daily candle equal to 1875.  The bullish candle is around 1882. This also makes the last candle close with a bearish candle, but retreated quite long.

 - My personal view at the beginning of this week's trading session is that Gold will continue to gain momentum.  The closest support area for this precious metal is around 1873-1877.  Here we can establish a long position with a safe target around 1883 -1888.

Singapore: Inflation accelerated in March – UOB

UOB Group’s Economist Barnabas Gan reviews the latest inflation figures in Singapore.

Key Takeaways

“Singapore’s consumer prices rose at its fastest rate in a decade at 5.4% y/y (+1.2% m/m nsa) in Mar 2022. This is significantly faster compared to market expectations for a 4.7% y/y (+0.8% m/m nsa) print. Core inflation also accelerated to 2.9% y/y in the same month (Feb: +2.2% y/y).”

“Headline inflation has climbed for seven straight months, while core inflation stayed above the 2.0% handle for the fourth straight reading. In line with the recent MAS policy statement, authorities have upgraded their headline and core inflation forecast to 4.5 – 5.5% (from 2.5 – 3.5%) and 2.5% - 3.5% (from 2.0 – 3.0%) in 2022, respectively.”

“As discussed in our latest MAS policy and GDP report, we keep our headline inflation forecast to average 4.5%. Moreover, we expect core inflation to breach 3.0% for the rest of this year, and average 3.5% for the year.”

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📕 Comment on Gold on April 25, 2022:

 📕 Comment on Gold on April 25, 2022:

 - Ending the last trading week, precious metal Gold closed with a bearish candle with quite strong force around 1931 and in the early morning of today Gold continued to decline to around 1921, the price turned around.  exactly the same as the starting point of the rally 2 weeks ago.

 - Gold is currently in the support zone 1917-1920.  It is likely that Gold will recover slightly here after a fairly strong drop last week and in my opinion it is likely that Gold will recover to around the 1940 level here we need to wait and see a sell signal.  .  If Gold cannot recover and break through the 1917-1920 threshold, the possibility of this precious metal will slide down to 1900-1890.

Gold Price Forecast: XAUUSD closes in on $2,000 amid Easter Monday thin trading

 

• Gold Price remains poised to recapture $2,000 amid a flight to safety.
• Elevated inflation, recession risks and the Russia-Ukraine war boost safe-haven appeal.
• The speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell will keep investors busy this week.

Easter Monday-induced thin market conditions are offering some extra zest to bulls, as Gold Price heads closer towards the $2,000 round level. The light trading seems to be exaggerating the moves in XAUUSD, as a 0.50% drop in the US stock futures reflects a risk-off market profile. Persistent Russian military actions in the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv and the Southern port city of Mariupol suggest that a peace agreement is nowhere in sight, fuelling anxiety. Meanwhile, the Ukraine crisis-led surging global inflation is prompting investors to seek refuge in the inflation-hedge Gold Price. Buyers ignore the notable strength in the US dollar alongside the Treasury yields, as a flight to safety makes the traditional store of value, gold, more appealing.

Also read: Gold Price Forecast: XAUUSD needs to crack this level to take on the $2,000 mark

Moreover, China’s covid lockdowns and a potential European Union (EU) embargo on Russian gas could likely intensify inflation and growth concerns. This was seen as another factor that boosted the metal's appeal as a hedge against rising costs. Investors will now focus on the speech from the St. Louis Fed President and FOMC member James Bullard, which will provide insights into the likely monetary policy action by the Fed. However, the mega event will be the speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell due later this week.

“We are of the view that the Fed is broadly in-sync with the move toward the vicinity of neutral by the end of 2022, with Governor Brainard supporting that view recently. Chair Powell's remarks in an IMF panel on the global economy will get the focus of the attention,” analysts at TD Securities explained. “While the Fed is signalling its intent to reach neutrality by year-end, and to start an aggressive QT regime, outflows from gold markets have been scarce as participants are happy to retain some optionality against the Fed's stated plan amid growth concerns,” the analysts added.

Gold Technical Analysis

The bulls are in control and taking on fresh highs. On a daily scale, XAU/USD has tested the breakout of its previous critical level at March 24 high $1,966.18 multiple times. The 20- and 50-Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) are scaling higher, adding to the upside filters. The momentum oscillator Relative Strength Index (RSI) (14) has overstepped 60.00, which indicates a firmer bullish momentum going forward.

Breaking: ECB leaves rates unchanged at -0.50% as expected, reiterates QE to end in Q3

The European Central Bank left its benchmark deposit rate unchanged at -0.50% on Thursday as unanimously expected by analysts. The central bank also reiterated its guidance that net asset purchases (Quantitative Easing or QE) should end in Q3. 

ECB Statement:

"Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is causing enormous suffering.

It is also affecting the economy, in Europe and beyond.

The conflict and the associated uncertainty are weighing heavily on the confidence of businesses and consumers.

Trade disruptions are leading to new shortages of materials and inputs.

Surging energy and commodity prices are reducing demand and holding back production.

How the economy develops will crucially depend on how the conflict evolves, on the impact of current sanctions and on possible further measures.

At the same time, economic activity is still being supported by the reopening of the economy after the crisis phase of the pandemic.

Inflation has increased significantly and will remain high over the coming months, mainly because of the sharp rise in energy costs.

Inflation pressures have intensified across many sectors.

At today’s meeting the Governing Council judged that the incoming data since its last meeting reinforce its expectation that net asset purchases under its asset purchase programme should be concluded in the third quarter.

Looking ahead, the ECB’s monetary policy will depend on the incoming data and the Governing Council’s evolving assessment of the outlook.

In the current conditions of high uncertainty, the Governing Council will maintain optionality, gradualism and flexibility in the conduct of monetary policy.

The Governing Council will take whatever action is needed to fulfil the ECB’s mandate to pursue price stability and to contribute to safeguarding financial stability.

Asset purchase programme (APP)

Monthly net purchases under the APP will amount to €40 billion in April, €30 billion in May and €20 billion in June.

The calibration of net purchases for the third quarter will be data-dependent and reflect the Governing Council’s evolving assessment of the outlook.

The Governing Council also intends to continue reinvesting, in full, the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the APP for an extended period of time past the date when it starts raising the key ECB interest rates and, in any case, for as long as necessary to maintain favourable liquidity conditions and an ample degree of monetary accommodation.

Key ECB interest rates

The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.50% respectively.

Any adjustments to the key ECB interest rates will take place some time after the end of the Governing Council’s net purchases under the APP and will be gradual.

The path for the key ECB interest rates will continue to be determined by the Governing Council’s forward guidance and by its strategic commitment to stabilise inflation at 2% over the medium term.

Accordingly, the Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels until it sees inflation reaching 2% well ahead of the end of its projection horizon and durably for the rest of the projection horizon, and it judges that realised progress in underlying inflation is sufficiently advanced to be consistent with inflation stabilising at 2% over the medium term.

Pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP)

The Governing Council intends to reinvest the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the PEPP until at least the end of 2024.

In any case, the future roll-off of the PEPP portfolio will be managed to avoid interference with the appropriate monetary policy stance.

In the event of renewed market fragmentation related to the pandemic, PEPP reinvestments can be adjusted flexibly across time, asset classes and jurisdictions at any time.

This could include purchasing bonds issued by the Hellenic Republic over and above rollovers of redemptions in order to avoid an interruption of purchases in that jurisdiction, which could impair the transmission of monetary policy to the Greek economy while it is still recovering from the fallout from the pandemic.

Net purchases under the PEPP could also be resumed, if necessary, to counter negative shocks related to the pandemic.

Refinancing operations

The Governing Council will continue to monitor bank funding conditions and ensure that the maturing of operations under the third series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO III) does not hamper the smooth transmission of its monetary policy.

The Governing Council will also regularly assess how targeted lending operations are contributing to its monetary policy stance.

As announced, it expects the special conditions applicable under TLTRO III to end in June this year.

The Governing Council will also assess the appropriate calibration of its two-tier system for reserve remuneration so that the negative interest rate policy does not limit banks’ intermediation capacity in an environment of ample excess liquidity.

The Governing Council stands ready to adjust all of its instruments within its mandate, incorporating flexibility if warranted, to ensure that inflation stabilises at its 2% target over the medium term.

The pandemic has shown that, under stressed conditions, flexibility in the design and conduct of asset purchases has helped to counter the impaired transmission of monetary policy and made the Governing Council’s efforts to achieve its goal more effective.

Within the Governing Council’s mandate, under stressed conditions, flexibility will remain an element of monetary policy whenever threats to monetary policy transmission jeopardise the attainment of price stability.

The President of the ECB will comment on the considerations underlying these decisions at a press conference starting at 14:30 CET today."

Market Reaction

The euro saw a substantial drop in reaction to the latest ECB policy announcement. EUR/USD has dipped to around the 1.0875 area from around 1.0915 prior to the release and now trades with on the day losses of around 0.1% versus earlier gains of around 0.3%.  

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📕 Comment on Gold on April 7, 2022:

  📕 Comment on Gold on April 7, 2022:

 - In yesterday's trading session, precious metal Gold fell from 1933 to 1915. Yesterday's closing session was around 1924. With Gold not having too many fluctuations in yesterday's session, our opinion  My personal preference remains the same as in recent days it is preferable to sell if Gold is in the 1930-1940 zone.

 - On the D1 chart we can see that although yesterday closed with a bullish candle, in fact this candle did not show an increase, but instead, the increasing force seems to be weaker compared to the previous days.  The proof is that last night the highest price Gold recovered was around the threshold of 1932. So in today's session, I think it is possible to sell down with Gold around 1926-1930 with a safe target of 1915-1920.  and my expectation Gold will go even deeper.

 Singapore: Prospects for retail sales remain solid despite February drop

“Singapore’s retail sales unexpectedly contracted 3.4% y/y in Feb 2022, disappointing market estimates for a 5.6% y/y expansion. Retail sales excluding motor vehicles fell 1.8% y/y in the same month.”

“The decline in retail sales was partly due to lower receipts as compared to Feb 2021, during which sales were supported by pre-Chinese New Year (CNY) expenditure. For this year, pre-CNY spending occurred mainly in Jan 2022.”

“For the year ahead, we expect that domestic retailers will likely see some support as borders continue to reopen, while further economic recovery would be a lynchpin for domestic retail demand. Barring the exacerbation of COVID-19-related risks in Singapore and around the region, we pencil retail sales to expand by 6.0% in 2022.”

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