Gold hits highest level in three months as traders worry about US inflation and bond market jitters – business live

AI desk brief

Gold extended to its highest level since mid-May, with spot briefly near $4,700/oz before easing to $4,649/oz, as traders positioned for hotter US inflation data and renewed bond-market stress. The move came after the US Treasury said it would double its purchases of longer-dated bonds to stabilise yields, reinforcing the market’s view that rate expectations and real-yield volatility remain the key drivers for bullion near term.

The immediate catalyst set is now US inflation prints and Friday’s speech by Fed chair Kevin Warsh, which traders will parse for any signal on the pace of future rate hikes and the policy response to the bond-market selloff. The article also points to elevated geopolitical risk in the Middle East, with reduced vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz and fresh Iranian threats, but the dominant macro impulse for gold remains the US rates/inflation backdrop rather than energy or risk sentiment alone.

For desks, the risk is that a softer inflation read or more explicit policy support for the bond market could ease yields and extend gold’s breakout, while a hotter print or hawkish Fed messaging could trigger consolidation after the sharp rally. The current setup keeps bullion bid on both policy uncertainty and debt-market jitters, with $4,700/oz now the obvious intraday reference level and $4,649/oz the immediate spot pivot.