Gold prices are feeling the squeeze caused by a strengthening dollar during early Tuesday trading. Investors are eyeing up tomorrow’s Federal Reserve meeting and rate decision and pondering on what it could deliver, with the build-up of expectations supporting the greenback. The uncertainty lies in what guidance the Fed will offer on Wednesday, following the better than expected US GDP data released last week. Recent dollar strength has derived from the possibility that the central bank may indicate that rates will rise further and remain elevated for longer than previously expected. This is a scenario that penalizes gold prices, capping any upside generated by lingering recession fears and high inflation, with the dollar assuming the role of preferred refuge asset.
Ricardo Evangelista – Senior Analyst, ActivTrades
European Shares
EU shares continued to drift on Tuesday, following another volatile session in Asia, as traders await this week’s central bank meetings. Most benchmarks traded lower in Europe, with all sectors moderately down, as investors weighed the latest patchy macro data from France and Germany, the two biggest economies of the Eurozone. In addition to uneven macro data, market sentiment has also been negatively impacted by the latest batch of disappointing corporate results showing a drop in earnings per share as well as toneless revenues. Despite lingering enthusiasm towards riskier assets, investors will likely need some further bullish catalyst in order to stay invested in equities, and many hopes are already directed towards the next meeting of both the Federal Reserve and the ECB and the expectation of a less aggressive tone from central bankers. The DAX-40 index still trades above the 15,000.0pts mark but remains inside a broader trading range between 14,900pts and 15,280.0pts as investors wait for some trigger to drive prices into a much more directional movement.
Experienced writer and journalist, working in the global online trading sector, Steffy is the Editor of LeapRate. She has previous experience as a copywriter and has been with the company since January 2020. Steffy has a British and American Studies degree from St. Kliment Ochridski University in Sofia.
