Gold heads for monthly gains amid hopes of ending rate hike ‎cycle ‎

Gold prices are heading today, Monday, to achieve their largest gains in four months, with growing expectations that the main global central banks may be close to ending the current monetary policy tightening cycles.

By 0431 GMT, spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1954.79 an ounce, and US gold futures fell 0.4 percent to $1953.80 an ounce.

According to “Reuters”, Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, said, “The markets feel certain in their assessment that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will end or close to raising interest rates, with all the major inflation reports in the states indicating the United States to reduce inflation at a faster rate.”

He added, “This achieved positive effects for gold since it received support at approximately $1,900,” noting that the market remained in a period of the year associated with volatile price movement and less stable returns.

It is expected that gold prices will end the month higher by about 1.8%, at their highest level since March, because expectations that US interest rates may approach their peak have put the dollar on the path of its second consecutive monthly decline.

Data on Friday showed that annual inflation in the United States rose at its slowest pace in more than two years in June, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve is getting closer to ending the fastest cycle of interest rate hikes since the 1980s.

Two European Central Bank policymakers on Friday also raised the possibility that the bank could end its fastest and longest series of interest rate hikes.

High interest rates reduce the purchase of gold, which is priced in dollars and does not generate returns

It seems that other precious metals tend to record monthly gains, led by silver, which rose in spot transactions by 6.5%, but fell 0.5% during the day, to $24.22 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.9% to $927.38 an ounce. Palladium fell 0.3% to $1,241.93 an ounce