Gold Price Forecast: XAUUSD climbs sharply to two-month highs at around $1740s
- Gold price advances following the release of a weak US CPI report.
- The US core Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October creeps lower, suggesting the Fed might slow the pace of rate hikes.
- Unemployment claims in the US rose, flashing signs of easing.
Gold price rallied after a report on inflation in the United States showed that prices are easing, opening the door for less aggressive action by the Federal Reserve at December’s meeting. That said, investors’ risk appetite improved as US equity futures jumped while US Treasury yields were getting smashed. At the time of writing, the XAUUSD is trading at around $1739, above its opening price by almost 2%.
Gold climbs sharply on lower US CPI report
On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October rose 0.4% MoM, less than’0.6% estimated, while the annual basis reading was 7.7%, below the 7.9% foreseen. Meanwhile, the core CPI, which Federal Reserve officials closely follow, jumped 0.3% MoM, less than the 0.5% expected by analysts, and the year-over-year figure was 6.3%, lower than the 6.5% estimates.
At the same time, US Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending on November 5 rose by 225K, above estimates of 220K, flashing signs that the labor market is easing, while Continuing Claims increased to 1493K from 1487K in the previous reading. During the last week’s employment data, the US economy added 261K jobs exceeding estimates, but the unemployment rate edged toward 3.7%.
Following the release, the US Treasury bond yields are plunging, with the US 10-year benchmark note rate at 3.912%, down 18 bps, a headwind for the US Dollar. The US Dollar Index, a gauge of the buck’s value against a basket of six peers, is down 1.47%, at 108.819.
At the time of typing, the Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is crossing newswires, and he said that the restrictive Fed Policy stance is seen above 4% and added that rate hikes could pause when the Federal Funds rate (FFR) hits 4.5%. Harker said that monetary policy lags “about a year or so.”