Gold drops over 1% on Powell’s cautious views, easing trade tensions

Gold prices extended losses on Wednesday, weighed by a stronger dollar and easing China-US trade tensions, while traders were left dissatisfied by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s cautious remarks on the US economy.

Spot gold, which was already down more than 1% before the meeting, slipped further after Powell’s comments. It was down 1.8% to USD 3,368.42 an ounce by 03:32 ET (19:32 GMT), while US gold futures settled 0.9% lower at USD 3,391.9.

The US dollar gained 0.6% against a basket of major currencies, making bullion more expensive for non-dollar buyers.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded its two-day policy meeting with a unanimous decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.25%-4.50%, where they’ve been since December.

“Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further,” the FOMC said in its post-meeting statement.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reinforced that sentiment, saying the central bank cannot act pre-emptively when the path forward is unclear.

“Powell held his cards very close repeating the message of the Fed will ‘wait and see’ and that it cannot be pre-emptive. It leaves the market a little dissatisfied, which will do nothing to change gold’s strong bullish bias,” said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.

“Dips will be bought as gold is the one market where investors are highly confident,” he added.

Gold, seen as a safe haven asset in uncertain times, has surged 28.6% this year, amid geopolitical risks and strong central bank buying. China’s central bank added to reserves for a sixth straight month in April.

“I think a big part of (gold’s fall) is China and the US coming together for tariff talks. The Fed announcement just seems really neutral from what Powell’s saying right now… So there’s no surprises there,” Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer are scheduled to meet Chinese economic tsar He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend, a move seen as a potential breakthrough in resolving trade tensions.

Elsewhere, spot silver dropped 2.9% to USD 32.27, while platinum fell 0.9% to USD 975.60 and palladium was down 1.2% at USD 963.34 per ounce.

(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)