THE APEX TIMES
Spot gold and silver fell, and bitcoin declined as investors reassessed the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate outlook following recent U.S. economic data.
Major commodities and crypto markets fell on Wednesday as traders increased bets that the Federal Reserve will keep policy tighter for longer, weighing on assets that do not pay interest. Precious metals and bitcoin both moved lower during early trading, reflecting a shift in market focus back to U.S. inflation concerns and the expected path of interest rates.
By 7:05 a.m. ET, spot gold was down 2.4% to around $4,161.63 per ounce, according to CNBC. U.S. gold futures also fell 2.2% to settle at $4,194.90 an ounce. The move followed earlier selling pressure tied to expectations about the Fed, after hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs data reinforced rate-hike bets.
Spot silver was 2% lower at $64.01 per ounce, after paring deeper losses seen earlier in the session, CNBC reported. Silver futures shed 1.6%. Related exchange-traded products and mining equities also declined in pre-market trading, including the ProShares Ultra Silver ETF down 2.8% and the iShares Silver Trust ETF down 1.4%.
Bitcoin also came under pressure, with CNBC reporting a roughly 1.3% decline to about $61,049.25. CoinDesk described the selloff as happening alongside other “hedge” markets, noting that bitcoin and gold were falling together as higher-rate expectations reduced demand for non-yielding assets.
CNBC said the underlying driver was not purely safe-haven demand but the market’s renewed attention to rates and inflation. Ewa Manthey, a commodities strategist at ING, said gold and silver faced pressure as investors shifted focus to interest rates rather than “pure safe-haven demand.” She also pointed to the escalation in the Middle East lifting oil prices and raising inflation risks, which in turn reinforces expectations that central banks stay tighter for longer, raising real yields.
CoinDesk further reported that the latest crypto pullback appeared linked to positioning rather than fresh broad buying, citing bearish liquidations and the limited return of spot demand tied to U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded products. It also noted that traders were watching upcoming U.S. inflation data for implications for Federal Reserve policy.
Beyond the U.S., CNBC said European and Asian stocks were broadly lower in their respective sessions, alongside declines in U.S. equity futures. That pattern, combined with the move in the dollar-linked rate outlook, contributed to a broad risk-off tone across multiple asset classes.
Market moves were occurring ahead of the next set of U.S. economic releases, with traders recalibrating expectations for the Fed’s policy path. The direction of metals and bitcoin next depended largely on whether incoming data supports the higher-rate narrative or shifts expectations toward earlier easing.
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