EUR 8.82 For Business Accounts Only

Gold flat; set for best week in three on smaller rate-hike bets, (AKD Commodities vantage, Dec 02 2022)

GOLD: Gold prices were flat on Friday but set for their best week in three ahead of the U.S. jobs report, helped by the dollar’s retreat on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes. Bullion jumped about 2% on Thursday, setting it on track for its second straight weekly gain. The dollar index was headed for a weekly loss of over 1%. A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced gold less expensive for overseas buyers. Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said the U.S. central bank might scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes as soon as December. Spot silver slipped 0.5% to $22.26, platinum fell 0.2% to $1,039.75 and palladium lost 0.7% to $1,927.21.

OIL: Oil prices edged lower in early Asian trade on Friday as the U.S. dollar pared some losses, while easing Covid-19 curbs in two Chinese cities limited losses. Brent crude futures were down 11 cents or 0.1% at $86.77 per barrel by 1:28 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 14 cents or 0.2% to $81.08 per barrel. The U.S. dollar, which typically trades inversely with oil, edged higher after dipping to 16-week lows against a basket of major currencies following data that showed U.S. consumer spending increased solidly in October. 

US-EQUITIES: S&P 500 futures were slightly lower early Friday as investors looked ahead to the November jobs report.
Futures tied to the benchmark stock index dipped 0.16%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were lower by 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.33%. Friday’s is the final monthly employment report before the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting on Dec. 13 and 14, in which the central bank is expected to raise its fed funds target rate by a half percentage point.

U.S DOLLAR: The dollar dipped on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the U.S. central bank could scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes “as soon as December,” helping to put the dollar index on track for its worst month since 2010. Fed funds futures traders are now pricing for the fed funds rates to peak at 4.95% in May, compared with expectations for a top of 5.06% in June that was priced in this morning. The U.S. central bank is expected to hike rates by an additional 50 basis points when it meets on Dec. 13-14.