Gold ticks up ahead of US session with Fed no longer target for Trump

LONDON (February 6) Gold’s price (XAU/USD) is erasing its earlier slide from this Thursday and is bouncing back up, entering its sixth day of gains in its February rally. The slide was mainly triggered by comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said that the Trump administration's focus is on bringing down 10-year Treasury yields, not the Federal Reserve's (Fed) benchmark short-term interest rate, Bloomberg reports.  

On the economic data front, all eyes will be on the Bank of England monetary policy decision, where a 25 basis point (bps) interest rate cut was applied, to 4.50% after cutting it by 50 bps throughout 2024. The fact that two members voted for a 50 basis points rate cut, fuels further belief for the Federal Reserve to cut more than what markets currently project. Besides that, Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will speak later this Thursday, ahead of Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls data release. 

Daily digest market movers: No longer a target

• Comments from US President Donald Trump on Gaza and a new nuclear deal with Iran are soothing the tail risk element in the markets, which makes investors pare back some positions in Gold, Bloomberg reports. Trump is also expected to present a plan next week to end the war in Ukraine, which will help to ease the risk premium further. 
• Commodity markets are poised to break out of a two-year slump as a rally in precious metal and agriculture prices takes place. The Bloomberg Commodity Total Return Index, which trades a basket of 24 energy, metals, and agricultural futures, has already jumped 5.9 percent this year to its highest level since the end of 2022 – which was a golden year for raw materials as economies returned from COVID-19 hibernation and the war in Ukraine wreaked havoc on supply chains, Bloomberg reports. 
• Gold in the Bank of England vault is trading at a discount to the wider market, as fears over potential Trump’s tariffs spark a scramble for bullion that’s resulting in weeks-long queues to withdraw metal, Reuters reports. 
• The Bank of England (BoE) has released its monetary policy decision. As expected a 25 basis point (bps) rate cut was applied to 4.50% from 4.75%. The vote split was 7 in favor for a 25 basis point rate cut against 2 votes for a 50 basis points rate cut. 

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