Gold Hits 10-Month Low Due to Fed/One-Two Dollar's Punch

Is gold safe at $1,700? Given how far south the yellow metal has traveled in only two days, the question is legitimate.

August gold futures on the New York Comex concluded Wednesday's trading at $1,736.0 per ounce, down $27.40, or 1.6%. The day's minimum value was $1,730.95.

Gold's most recent nadir provides a $30 cushion between the next horror scenario and longs in the game — $1,600 area.

Sunil Kumar Dixit, chief technical strategist at skcharts.com, warned that if gold fails to achieve $1,768 it will continue under pressure and aim for $1,722-$1,698.

The dollar's rebound and the Federal Reserve's hawkish attitude have virtually pushed gold to September 2021 lows.

Wednesday was the first occasion since December 2002 when the Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, topped 107 points. Since November of last year, the dollar has climbed steadily on projections of quick rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, which have barely started to materialize.

Gold's malaise also coincides with the Fed's relentless rate hike talk. The Fed's vow to tame the inflation beast by increasing the Fed funds rate before the end of the year has damaged bullion prices for weeks. However, central bank authorities have shown no hesitation to pursue this purpose.

According to minutes from a central bank policy meeting held last month, the Fed considers there is a serious danger of high inflation getting entrenched in the US economy and that modest interest rate hikes are the only way to balance runaway prices with growth.

During the outbreak, the Fed held interest rates between zero and 0.25 percent for two years until boosting them in March of this year. Since then, rates have hit between 1.5 and 1.75 percent. The central bank has declared that it will continue to hike interest rates until inflation, which has hit 40-year highs of more than 8 percent yearly, returns to its objective rate of 2 percent annually.

This month, the Fed is expected to continue with another quarter-point rate rise.