Gold rallies to record high for sixth straight session
Gold prices rose on Thursday and marked new record highs for the sixth straight session even as the dollar advanced against most major rivals.
Citigroup’s analysts now expect gold prices to reach $3500 by the end of 2025 on strong haven demand amid concerns about a potential US recession.
The Fed decided to maintain the interest rate unchanged at below 4.5% while expecting two interest rate cuts this year. It also raised its inflation outlook while reducing its US growth outlook.
US 10-year treasury yields fell by 7 basis points to 4.185%, while two-year rates fell by 5 basis points to 3.928%.
Earlier government data showed US unemployment claims rose by two thousand to 223 thousand last week, while analysts expected 225 thousand.
Otherwise, the dollar index rose 0.4% as of 19:43 GMT to 103.8, with a session-high at 104.1, and a low at 103.3.
On trading, gold spot prices rose 0.4% as of 19:44 GMT to $3052.9 an ounce.
US stock indices climb as investors digest Fed decision
US stock indices rose on Thursday as investors assess the Federal Reserve’s latest Fed decision.
The Fed decided to maintain the interest rate unchanged at below 4.5% while expecting two interest rate cuts this year. It also raised its inflation outlook while reducing its US growth outlook.
US 10-year treasury yields fell by 7 basis points to 4.185%, while two-year rates fell by 5 basis points to 3.928%.
Earlier government data showed US unemployment claims rose by two thousand to 223 thousand last week, while analysts expected 225 thousand.
On trading, Dow Jones rose 0.6%, or 240 points to 42204 points, while S&P 500 added 0.5%, or 25 points to 5700 points, as NASDAQ advanced 0.6%, or 103 points to 17,854 points.
Bitcoin gives up two-week high on profit-taking
Bitcoin fell on Thursday away from two-week highs amid active profit-taking.
The current losses are stymied by strong institutional demand, which bolsters confidence in crypto assets, while US yields lost ground, in turn boosting the risk appetite.
The Price
Bitcoin fell 2.4% at Bitstamp today to $84,784, with March 7 highs at $87,470.
On Wednesday, bitcoin rallied over 5%, the second profit in three days, and the largest in two weeks on strong corporate demand.
Crypto Market Value
The market value of cryptocurrencies fell by $25 billion on Thursday to a total of $2.880 trillion.
Institutional Demand
Through the X platform, Microstrategy CEO Micheal Saylor announced another purchase of 130 bitcoin units on Sunday, March 16th.
The company spent $10.8 million for the new purchases, averaging $82,981 per unit, with its total holdings now rising to 499,226 units, equivalent to $33.1 billion.
Japan’s MetaPlanet also expanded its holdings of bitcoin this week, acquiring 150 additional units at $12.5 million, with total company holdings now reaching 2200 units at a total value of $266.2 million.
US Yields
US 10-year treasury yields fell 1.4% today on track for the fourth decline in a row, hitting a week high low at 4.189%, which boosts risk appetite.
It comes after a commitment by the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at least twice this year.
The Fed
The Federal Reserve voted to maintain interest rates unchanged today at below 4.5%.
Fed officials said the US economy is growing strongly, and lauded the labor market as unemployment falls.
However, the Fed still sees inflation as still high, asserting the ongoing goal of bringing inflation towards 2% in the long term.
The Fed plans to reduce its holdings of treasury and mortgage bonds starting next April as part of normalizing the monetary policy.
US Rates
The odds of a Fed 0.25% interest rate cut in May fell to 16% according to the Fedwatch tool.
The odds of a 0.25% June rate cut rose to 70%.
BOE holds interest rates as expected
The Bank of England voted to maintain interest rates unchanged at 4.5% as expected, the lowest since May 2023, following a February rate cut for the third time since the start of the current monetary easing cycle in August 2024.