International gold prices continued to come under pressure on Wednesday as hawkish comments from Fed officials pushed the dollar to multi-year highs, undermining the attractiveness of safe-haven gold. The price of gold is 1910 US dollars in the short term. The minutes of the March meeting will be released later in the day and may provide details on the shrinking table.
15:23 Beijing time, spot gold fell 0.26% to $1918.58 / oz; COMEX gold contract fell 0.31% to $1921.5 / oz; and the dollar index rose 0.12% to 99.609.
The dollar index hit 99.761, its highest level since May 26, 2020, as Fed officials pushed for a contraction as soon as possible, with one of them saying he was open to raising interest rates by 50 basis points. A stronger dollar makes gold less attractive to holders of other currencies.
Lael Brainard, the Fed governor, said on Tuesday that she expected a methodical rate hike and a rapid shrinking of the Fed's balance sheet to shift monetary policy to a "more neutral stance" later this year, adding that it would tighten further as needed.
The White House said the United States and its allies would impose new sanctions on Russian banks and officials on Wednesday and ban new investment in Russia. The proposed EU sanctions would ban imports of Russian coal and ban Russian ships from entering EU ports. The sanctions plan must be approved by the 27 member states of the EU.
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