On aggressive Fed comments, XAUUSD revives briefly from $1,900, but expects downside to $1,880

After a massive negative move, gold (XAU/USD) is showing a dead cat bounce around approximately $1,900. After failing to hold above the round level support of $1,950.00 last week, the precious metal has seen a sharp sell-off. One thing to keep in mind is that market investors have discounted a big rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in May. In addition, the balance sheet reduction programme will begin sooner to hasten the economy’s liquidity contraction.

Aside from that, Fed policymakers are debating whether or not to return to neutral rates, implying that the remainder of the year would be marked by tight liquidity leakage and the lack of helicopter money, which will keep gold prices on the edge. As a result, rather than a massive rate hike announced for May, investors have begun deducting the uncertainty of the neutral rates from gold prices. The main mover this week will be US Core Personal Consumption Expenditure, which is predicted to come in at 4.9 percent, down from the previous reading of 5%.

The price of gold is climbing in Tokyo as the US dollar loses some of its momentum after a strong start to the week. The gold price, on the other hand, is still hovering around a four-week low set overnight. The price has increased by 0.11 percent to $1,900.21. XAU/USD has risen to a high of $1,903.83 from a low of $1,897.42. Soaring inflation in the US economy has contributed to the pessimism in gold prices. The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) has hit multi-decade highs, and the Federal Reserve has already raised interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) in response to the tight labour market (Fed). According to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s presentation at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting, a big rate hike is on the way, while investors will be more concerned about the status of balance sheet reduction. The need of the hour is to squeeze liquidity from the economy at a faster rate, and Fed policymakers are likely to use whatever means at their disposal.

The precious metal will most certainly dance to the beats of the US Consumer Confidence and Durable Goods Orders report, which is due on Tuesday. The preliminary reading for the monthly Durable Goods Orders is 1%, compared to -2.1 percent previously.