Title: Gold Down as Investors Remain Concerned Over Interest Rate Hikes

Jul 22, 2022 12:07AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Gold prices were down Friday morning in Asia as investors worried about interest rate hikes by major central banks to curb inflation.

Gold futures were down 0.03% at $1,689.05 an ounce by 12:01 AM ET, while the dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, edged higher Friday morning.

"Gold is in a downtrend, and the recoveries that are starting are short-lived because gold is being pressured by the fact that inflation expectations are falling," Edward Meir, an analyst at ED & F Man Capital Markets, told Reuters.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday in a bid to curb rising inflation.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise rates by 75 basis points at its July 26-27 meeting.

"We're waiting to see how aggressive their (Fed) guidance on interest rates will be," he said. "If they still think inflation is a problem, or if they still want to push through more rate hikes, that will be very detrimental to gold," Meir said.

The U.S. economy is slowing as weekly initial U.S. jobless claims rose to a new eight-month high on Thursday and manufacturing activity slumped in July.

In other precious metals, silver fell 0.3% in the spot market, platinum gained 0.3% and palladium rose 0.2%.