Gold Stumbled from Omicron High on the Concern of Faster Fed Tightening – Investing.com India

Gold Stumbled from Omicron High on the Concern of Faster Fed Tightening – Investing.com India

(XAU/USD-spot) stumbled to around 1782 Friday (7th January)from a high around 1829 a few days ago. Gold stumbled from Omicron high on hawkish FOMC minutes, in which Fed discussed faster tightening than the market expected. The December FOMC minutes revealed that some participants judged that the appropriate pace of balance sheet runoff (QT) and rate hikes would likely be faster than previously assumed. After the release of the December FOMC minutes, the Fed Fund Futures shows an 80% probability of a March rate hike (from 40% before the release of minutes). The market is now gradually discounting a March liftoff and June QT.

Further, on Friday, all focus was on the U.S. NFP (Non-Farm Payroll) job report for December to gauge the progress of U.S. employment and whether it could be termed as Fed’s standard of substantial further progress to warrant faster tightening in 2022. Although the overall job report was mixed and the NFP job additions figure was terrible amid seasonal factors/adjustment, household survey data shows robust job/employment additions and sequential wage growth.