1. Newsroom
  2. Gold – Increasing downside risks
Menu
瑞联银行新闻报道 27.01.2022

Gold – Increasing downside risks

Gold – Increasing downside risks

Finanz und Wirtschaft (22.01.2022) - Since the start of the year, gold prices have traded in a tight range between USD 1,780 and USD 1,830 per ounce.


The tight range reflects the modest weakening in the US dollar since the beginning of the year, and large equity market down moves in which gold caught a bid. The catalyst for this equity market weakness was the rise in both short and long-term interest rates, particularly in the US. Two-year yields in the US rose above 1% and ten-year yields climbed to levels of around 1.85% – the highest in two years. Gold has traded quite strongly, considering – although this is likely also explained by commodity index rebalancing, which normally starts in January.

Yields have increased because the US Federal Reserve has adopted a distinctly hawkish narrative, moving to increase the pace of its QE tapering programme and to begin outright balance sheet reduction in the summer. Markets have also priced in nearly four rate hikes this year. The Fed’s forthcoming 26 January meeting will be important in that it will give investors more understanding about the prospects for a March rate hike.

Normally, tighter monetary policy is bad news for gold – higher nominal and real interest rates tend to reduce its attractiveness as it is a non-yielding asset. However, gold has held up well so far, because inflation has been stubbornly high. We anticipate that inflation should begin to fall from the second quarter onwards, meaning that real rates will start to rise. This is an ominous development for gold, and investors will have to keep a close eye on this factor. Consequently, we think that gold should not have too much upside potential over the coming weeks – we think Fed speakers will talk up the chances of a faster and more aggressive rate-hiking cycle than markets currently expect, which has clearly negative implications for the yellow metal.

Investors are still maintaining a large long gold position, both in ETFs and in the futures market. ETF holdings have risen from pre-pandemic levels of around USD 7 trillion to around USD 9.7 trillion now, suggesting that investors may reallocate portfolios away from gold once the outlook for rates and inflation becomes clearer. If this manifests itself, it has clear downside risk for gold, probably to levels of around USD 1,700 per ounce.


Peter Kinsella Peter Kinsella
Global Head of Forex Strategy
请在LINKEDIN了解他更多
Expertise

Global equities

Invest in companies with superior and sustainable value creation.


延伸阅读

瑞联银行新闻报道 27.03.2024

From trading to pure play: UBP’s Ivan Wong shares the beauty of a boutique bank

Asian Private Banker, Carly Lau (22.03.2024) - The beauty of working for a pure play is the core focus on wealth management, where the business is not subjected to the aggressive risk culture associated with investment banking, nor exposed to the cyclical corporate lending of commercial banking.

瑞联银行新闻报道 26.03.2024

"10–15% of clients ask for sustainable investments"

Le Temps, Sébastien Ruche (25.03.2024) - The importance of performance, the difficulty in putting forward green investments, who will lead UBP tomorrow: these are some of the many topics covered here by the Geneva bank’s CEO, Guy de Picciotto.

瑞联银行新闻报道 06.03.2024

Thinking big about impact investing

Börsen-Zeitung (02.03.2024) - The launch of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 provided a road map for addressing the most pressing issues facing our society by 2030 and beyond.