Gold held a small gain after traders increased bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month, following pressure from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Bullion rose as much as 0.6% on Thursday before paring gains to trade near $3,365 an ounce. Prices saw a modest increase in the previous session, supported by a fall in Treasury yields after Bessent suggested the Fed's benchmark rate ought to be at least 1.5 percentage points lower than it is now. Lower borrowing costs and declining yields tend to support gold, as it pays no interest. The increased bets...
Silver prices held above $38.5 per ounce on Thursday, hovering near a three-week high as expectations for deeper Federal Reserve rate cuts this year supported the market. Softer US inflation data suggested President Donald Trump's tariffs are not adding to price pressures, while signs of labor market cooling reinforced the dovish outlook. Markets have nearly fully priced in a September cut, with some anticipating a larger 50-basis-point move. Additionally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for multiple rate cuts and said the Fed could kick off the policy rate easing with a half-point...
The U.S. dollar rose slightly against other major currencies on Thursday, but stayed close to multi-week lows as bets that the Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates next month ticked higher. Bucking the trend was the yen, with the dollar hitting a three-week low against the Japanese currency after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the Bank of Japan needs to raise rates again soon, while the Fed cuts aggressively. Rising expectations for monetary easing combined with increasing institutional cryptocurrency investment powered bitcoin to a new record peak earlier in...