Gold weakens as post-election fallout continues to weigh

Gold weakens on Friday as Donald Trump’s re-election continues to impact the precious metal. 

This reverses a short-term bounce following the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by 0.25%. 

Technically, XAU/USD corrects back within a short-term downtrend. 

Gold (XAU/USD) falls about half a percent to trade in the $2,680s on Friday, extending the short-term bearish mini trend it has been in since it rolled over on Halloween. The decline comes amid market expectations that President-elect Donald Trump’s economic policies will be positive for the US Dollar (USD), as higher tariffs and tax cuts could keep interest rates high, supporting foreign capital inflows into the US currency. This, in turn is expected to pressure Gold lower since it is mainly priced and traded in USD.

Gold bounces briefly after Fed meetinh

Gold reverses its brief bounce after the US Federal Reserve (Fed) November rate meeting concluded with the decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) (0.25%) on Thursday. This brought the Fed Funds Target Range (FFTR) down to the range of 4.50% - 4.75%, as expected. Lower interest rates are positive for Gold, which is a non-interest-bearing asset, as they reduce the opportunity cost of holding the precious metal. 

Gold also won bids due to the complete absence of any mention of how the outcome of the US presidential election might impact the US economy in the Fed’s accompanying statement. Nor was the wording changed by much from the previous meeting, except to state that “labor market conditions have generally eased” since the last meeting in September.