All eyes are on Fed meeting today for further direction
File photo
Gold prices in Dubai edged lower at the opening of the markets on Wednesday.
According to Dubai Jewellery Group data, the 24K was trading at Dh233.25 per gram on Wednesday morning as compared to last night’s close of Dh233.5. While 22K, 21K and 18K opened at Dh216.0, Dh209.0 and Dh179.25 per gram, respectively.
Spot gold was steady at $1,925.88 per ounce by 9:20 am UAE time ahead of the release of US Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting minutes and other economic data.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst, Swissquote Bank, said theFed will release the minutes of its latest policy meeting today, and there will clearly be a couple of hawkish sentences that will hit the headlines, given that the Fed officials paused their rate hikes in their June meeting, but their dot plot showed two more interest rate hikes before a real and a longer pause.
“At this point, the Fed expectations went so hawkish that there is a growing chance of correction. Fed funds futures gives near 90 per cent chance for another 25bp hike in July, and another 25bp after that is more likely than not. No one expects or is positioned for a rate cut from the Fed this year. Unless there is another baking stress or chaos in the housing market, nothing could stop the Fed from pursuing its battle against inflation,” he said.
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Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that directly affect the lives of UAE consumers. He frequently reports human interest stories, too.