Gold benefits from declining T-yields, weaker dollar

Gold prices rose sharply in the midday US trading session on Thursday due to the lower US dollar index and declining Treasury yields. August gold futures were last up $24.60 at $1,983.00 and July silver was up $0.796 at $24.325.

The market is starting to focus on next week’s FOMC meeting of the Federal Reserve. The majority of the market thinks the Fed could pause in its interest-rate-tightening cycle. However, many market watchers now think that the US central bank will follow the Bank of Canada’s recent moves.

The Bank of Canada raised interest rates by 0.25% this week after a four-month pause. The BoC’s move brings home the reality that a pause needn’t be a pivot. It can also be a way to slow down increases while fresh data come in.

Asian and European stock markets were mostly weaker overnight, while US stock indexes were firmer at midday. In other news, the Eurozone reported that its first-quarter GDP was revised down to -0.1% from the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the fourth-quarter GDP was revised down to -0.1%. That means the Eurozone technically entered a recession in Q1.