All eyes on Fed's tightening path

Gold started the new week lower as investors sought new signs of the Fed’s rate hike roadmap. Gold fell in Asian markets as investors awaited new clues about the Fed’s tightening path. Spot gold had lost 1.2 percent last week as Fed officials emphasized the need to continue raising interest rates to rein in inflation, lowering expectations that interest rate hikes would ease following lower-than-expected inflation data. Philip Nova Commodities Manager Avtar Sandu said in a memo, “The Fed minutes to be released on Wednesday could shed light on the path the Federal Open Market Committee will follow ahead of its December meeting.” The latest messages came from Atlanta Fed President Bostic Fed member Raphael Bostic sees the peak interest rate that the Fed will reach in its tightening cycle lower than some of his colleagues. Speaking on Saturday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic defended the view that the pace of interest rate hikes should be slowed in upcoming meetings. Bostic made the assessment that “If the economy progresses as I expect, an additional 75 or 100 basis point increase in the coming period will be enough to reach the peak interest rate.” Bostic thus drew a peak interest rate horizon of around 4.75-5 percent. Last week, Mary Daly, who was shown among the dovish members of the Fed, predicted a peak interest rate in the 4.75-5.25 percent range. Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, raised its Fed rate peak estimate to the 5-5.25 percent range.