Gold prices fell in European trade on Thursday on track for the third loss in a row, plumbing one-week lows after trading below $2400 and moving away from a record high on profit-taking.

The latest Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes were more bullish than expected, showing that many officials are still dismissive of any steps towards policy easing. 

Prices

Gold prices fell 1% today to $2355 an ounce, with a session-high at $2383. 

The precious metal lost 1.75% on Wednesday, the second loss in a row, and the heftiest since May 13 on profit-taking off a record high at $2450.

Both the dollar and US treasury yields were also boosted today following the release of the Fed’s minutes, in turn undermining gold prices. 

 Fed’s Minutes 

The minutes showed that Fed officials are concerned about the suitable timing of a rate cut, with several members expressing concerns about consumers using riskier financing methods to cover costs due to inflation. 

Fed officials pointed to the persistent risks of inflation, with factors including geopolitical events, and they focused on the impact on consumers, especially low-income workers. 

The Fed recently announced a decision to maintain interest rates unchanged at below 5.5% at the May meeting. 

US Rates

Following the release of the minutes, the odds of a July Fed interest rate cut fell to 16%, while the odds of a September rate cut fell to 57%.

According to the Fedwatch tool, investors now only expect one interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this year. 

The SPDR

Gold holdings at the SPDR Gold Trust remained flat yesterday at 838.54 tonnes, the highest since February 14. 

Yen skidded in Asian trade on Thursday to three-week lows against the US dollar, sharpening losses for the second straight session amid persistent concerns about the Japan-US interest rate gap. 

The odds of a Fed interest rate cut in the summer dipped after the release of the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes, with investors now awaiting more clues. 

And following a recent spate of weak Japan data, it’s likely the Bank of Japan will maintain its current ultra-easy policies unchanged for sometime.

The Price 

The USD/JPY pair rose 0.1% today to 156.90 yen, the highest since May 1, with a session-low at 156.66. 

The yen lost 0.4% on Tuesday, the fourth loss in five days as long-term US treasury yields rebounded. 

Interest Rate Gap

The US-Japan interest rate gap currently stands at 540 basis points in favor of the US, and will likely remain so for an extended duration.

US Rates 

The recently released Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes showed that Fed officials are concerned about the suitable timing of a rate cut, with several members expressing concerns about consumers using riskier financing methods to cover costs due to inflation. 

Fed officials pointed to the persistent risks of inflation, with factors including geopolitical events, and they focused on the impact on consumers, especially low-income workers. 

Japanese Rates

Recent weak data from Japan on growth and the services sector proved disappointing, in turn hurting the odds of a Bank of Japan’s interest rate cut this year. 

Yen’s Outlook

UBS’s New York analysts believe that markets are ignoring the risks of a BOJ intervention once more, which continues to present a fresh risk of sudden movements. 

Ripple fell on Wednesday amid mounting pressures on high-risk assets, as markets assess the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes. 

The minutes showed that Fed officials are concerned about the suitable timing of a rate cut, with several members expressing concerns about consumers using riskier financing methods to cover costs due to inflation. 

Fed officials pointed to the persistent risks of inflation, with factors including geopolitical events, and they focused on the impact on consumers, especially low-income workers. 

The Fed recently announced a decision to maintain interest rates unchanged at below 5.5% at the May meeting. 

Ripple

Ripple fell 1.4% as of 20:33 GMT on Coinmarketcap to $0.5288. 

Ethereum 

On the contrary, ethereum rose 1.4% on Coinmarketcap to $3741.8. 

The Energy Information Administration reported a buildup of 1.8 million barrels in US crude stocks last week to 458.8 million barrels, while analysts expected a drop of 2.4 million barrels.

US gasoline stocks fell by 0.9 million barrels to 226.8 million barrels, while distillate stocks rose by 0.4 million barrels to 116.7 million barrels.