Oil, gold under pressure from central banks

Oil

Crude prices were under pressure as fears of an aggressive central bank tightening are driving concerns for a quickly weakening global economy and as the UAE plans to increase oil output. ​ The global economy is slowing and that has been troubling for the crude demand outlook. ​

Oil pared losses as Wall Street saw a broad reversal at the NY open. While pessimism remains elevated for global growth, extreme positioning before the Fed seems unlikely. ​

Gold

Gold is breaking as surging real rates show no signs of easing and as it fails to act like a safe-haven. ​ This is a brutally tough weak for bullion as so many central banks this week are contemplating jumbo-sized interest rate hikes. It is hard to get a handle on what will be the peak for the Fed and until that happens, gold will remain vulnerable. ​

Gold will eventually resume its role as a safe-haven, but the peak in the dollar needs to be put in place and that won’t happen for a couple of meetings. ​ What is driving the hesitation for scaling into a long-term position with gold is that investors are not convinced that even when the Fed pauses, that might not guarantee they are done hiking. ​ The risk that the Fed will pause and then have to restart raising rates is elevated and that has completely upended the gold trade. ​

Gold is due for a bounce and even if that happens post-Fed this week, a sustained rebound will only occur if more signs emerge that inflation is easing. ​