Editor’s Note
This article reports on a significant drop in gold prices, driven by a combination of easing geopolitical risks, a stronger dollar, and investor caution ahead of key U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
Gold prices fell more than 2% in the precious metals market on the 17th. The decline was attributed to easing geopolitical tensions involving Iran and Russia, a stronger US dollar, and as investors awaited the release of the minutes from the US Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) January meeting scheduled for the 18th.
Spot gold hit a low of $4,862 per ounce at one point, its weakest level in over a week. As of 0622 GMT (3:22 PM Japan time), it was down 1.9% at $4,898.53. US gold futures for April delivery fell 2.6% to $4,917.70.
said Kyle Rodda, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.
said Ilya Spivak, Head of Global Macro at tastylive. He added that aside from the FOMC minutes, information providing hints about the Federal Reserve’s thinking would likely be closely watched.
US President Donald Trump stated on the 16th that he would be “indirectly” involved in the US-Iran talks on nuclear issues scheduled to begin on the 17th in Geneva, Switzerland, expressing confidence that Iran wants a deal.
Furthermore, Ukraine and Russia are holding a third round of US-mediated peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 17th and 18th. The Russian presidential office stated that these talks would likely focus on the main contentious issue of territorial disputes.
The US dollar index rose 0.2%. Spivak predicted,
Spot silver fell more than 5% at one point before trading down 2.8% at $74.46.