(Bloomberg) — Gold slipped in muted trading as traders await clues from policymakers on next year’s interest-rate path at their final meeting of 2025. Silver retreated from a record high above $60 an ounce.
The Federal Reserve is expected to deliver a quarter-point rate reduction at the conclusion of its policy meeting Wednesday. Such bets have supported gold prices as the precious metal typically performs well in a lower-rate environment. But in recent days, investors globally grew concerned that rate-cutting cycles from the US to Australia may be ending soon, which have pushed global bond yields to highs last seen in 2009.
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Gold traders will be parsing comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, especially what he’ll say about economic projections. They widely anticipate a third straight rate cut later Wednesday, but fears have been growing that it will be a hawkish cut with further easing in question.
Silver slipped, but still hovered around $60 after earlier surging to an all-time high of $61.6145 an ounce. Prices of the white metal has more than doubled this year, eclipsing gold’s 58% rise. Its rally has gathered pace since a historic supply squeeze in October. Though this crunch has eased as more metal flows into London vaults, borrowing rates remain elevated — an indication of lingering tightness. Other markets are now seeing supply constraints, with Chinese inventories at decade lows.
The silver market has become “overexcited” and prices are currently about 15% too high, Guy Wolf, global head of market analytics at Marex Group Plc., said in an online briefing, adding that interest from private wealth managers looking for alternative investment is benefiting precious metals to a certain extent.
Gold fell 0.4% to $4,192.29 an ounce as of 10:53 a.m. in New York. Silver was little changed at $60.48. Platinum and palladium fell. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
–With assistance from Preeti Soni, Jack Ryan and Yihui Xie.
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