Investing.com – Gold prices moved lower in European trade on Tuesday, as the dollar firmed sharply amid speculation over the policies of the incoming Donald Trump administration.
Improved risk appetite, following Trump’s election victory last week, sapped gold of safe haven demand. A sharp rally in the dollar also pressured bullion prices.
fell 0.9% to $2,595.56 an ounce, while expiring in December dipped by 0.6% to $2,601.55 an ounce by 06:52 ET (11:52 GMT).
Spot prices have tumbled from record highs of nearly $2,800 an ounce over the past two weeks. Denting sentiment around gold has been by a spike in the dollar driven by bets that inflationary policies under Trump will keep interest rates elevated in the long term.
Some economists have argued that Trump’s protectionist stance towards trade, including a blanket tariff on US imports, could reignite recently waning inflationary pressures.
The dollar raced to four-month highs this week, while Treasury yields, which tend to move inversely to prices, also drifted higher.
Investors are now focused on key US consumer price data, which is tipped to show inflation remained sticky in October.
Beyond this reading, a slew of Federal Reserve officials are also set to speak in the coming days, offering up more possible cues on rates after the central bank cut borrowing costs by 25 basis points last week.
Traders were seen pricing in a 66.7% chance for another quarter-point cut in December, and a 33.3% chance rates will remain unchanged, the closely-monitored CME FedWatch Tool showed.
“The swift move lower in gold post-election ran counter to our strategists’ expectations, however, they think the sell-off is a stumble not a sea change,” analysts at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:) said in a note.
“Furthermore, the sell-off was more driven by near-term position squaring in a well subscribed pre-election trade rather than a break in their thesis that a Republican sweep of government will likely continue to fuel further upside for gold in 2025 as the debasement trade rumbles on.”
