World gold prices continued to face pressure in the trading session on July 24, after losing about 2% in the previous session. Brent oil prices maintained above the threshold of 100 USD/barrel, increasing concerns about inflation and interest rate prospects ahead of the meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) next week.
As of 3:20 PM Vietnam time, spot gold prices fell 0.03% to 4,046.88 USD/ounce. The precious metal has now fallen more than 130 USD/ounce compared to the two-week high set on Wednesday. August gold futures fell 0.03% to 4,049.02 USD/ounce.
Despite a sharp decrease in recent sessions, gold prices are still heading towards an increase of about 0.5% in the week.
Pressure on the gold market continues to come from energy price developments. Brent oil rose 7% on Thursday, surpassing $100/barrel for the first time since May.
High oil prices increase concerns about inflation and the possibility of interest rates remaining high. This is a disadvantage for gold because the precious metal does not yield yields.
The market is currently focusing its attention on the Fed's policy meeting next week. The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at this meeting. According to CME FedWatch Tool, traders are assessing about 81% of the possibility of the Fed raising interest rates in September.
In Europe, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates unchanged in Thursday's meeting, while leaving open the possibility of further interest rate hikes in September.
On the precious metals market, spot silver prices increased by 0.9% to 58.17 USD/ounce and are heading towards an increase of 3.4% in the week.
Platinum prices rose slightly 0.01% to $1,597.20/ounce, while palladium fell 1.35% to $1,245.25/ounce. Both metals are still heading towards a week of price decline.
