Gold ends at lowest settlement since mid-November

Gold bars

Gold prices ended in the red today, Dec. 11, with the US dollar and bond yields soaring in anticipation of the release of inflation data tomorrow, in tandem with the start of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.

Bullion for February delivery lost nearly 1%, or $20.80, to finish at $1,993.70 an ounce — the lowest settlement since mid-November.

On the other hand, the US dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six major currencies, climbed by 0.15% to 104.15 points at 09:29 pm Makkah time, after hitting 104.26 points in early trading.

Goldman Sachs brought forward its estimate for the Fed’s first interest-rate cut to the third quarter of next year from a previous forecast for the fourth quarter. The lender now expects the US central bank to slash key rates twice in 2024 to 4.875% by the end of 2024.

The CME FedWatch Tool showed that the Fed is widely expected to start easing monetary policy in the coming May, with traders pricing in a 49.5% chance, instead of previous expectations for a rate cut at the March 2024 meeting.