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Gold climbs to 3-month high, as rate hike expectations rise
Gold prices were close to a 3-month high on Friday, as expectations increased that the Fed would be hiking rates.
Speaking after yesterday’s session closed, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard stated that he’d like the Federal reserve to make a bigger than projected hike in upcoming meetings.
Bullard stated that, “I’d like to see 100 basis points in the bag by July 1. I was already more hawkish, but I have pulled up dramatically what I think the committee should do”.
Today’s comments follow on from yesterday’s data which showed that annual U.S. inflation rose to its highest level in 40-years.
XAUUSD rose by over $40 today, hitting an intraday high above $1,859 for the first time since November.
Oil prices rebound to 7-year high, as IEA revised demand forecasts
Oil prices rose to end the week, as markets reacted to new data from the International Energy Agency
The IEA today revised its 2022 demand forecast for crude, raising it by 800,000 barrels per day for the remainder of the year.
This follows on from OPEC+ revising its figures of global demand to 4.15 million barrels per day this year in its monthly report released yesterday.
In a statement following the announcement, IEA’s head of markets Toril Bosni stated that, “The oil market is incredibly tight. Prices continue to surge and are now reaching levels that are uncomfortable for consumers across the world”.
WTI crude rose to a fresh 7-year high above $94 per barrel on the news.
USDCAD volatile, as Ontario enters state of emergency
The Canadian dollar was volatile during today’s session, as traders were uncertain how to react to the worsening truck driver crisis.
Protests over the vaccine mandate for truck drivers continued on Friday, with Ontario’s premier Doug Ford declaring a state of emergency.
This comes after a fifth day of protests created a blockade that continues to prevent passage over a key transport route to the United States.
Protests on the bridge between Detroit and Ontario, currently account for a quarter of all goods traded between the two countries.
Ford announced that protesters preventing movement on this bridge will face a $100,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
USDCAD rose to a 5-day high of 1.2753 on the news, before falling back towards its opening rate.
“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”
Warren Buffett.