On Monday, the South African rand (ZAR) was the best-performing currency among the 20 global currencies we track, while the US dollar showed the weakest results. The Australian dollar (AUD) was the leader among the majors, while the Turkish lira (TRY) underperformed among emerging markets.
Heavy Safe-Haven Demand Keeps XAU/USD Above 1,900
Gold (XAU) declined by 0.63% on Monday, but strong safe-haven demand kept the price above the important 1,900 level.
"We're just seeing some healthy consolidation from the recent gains just some normal profit-taking by the short-term futures traders," said Jim Wyckoff, the senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
Indeed, short-term fundamental factors clearly favor bulls in gold. The conflict in the Middle East keeps investors away from risky assets, while the market is pricing only a 9% chance of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve (Fed) in November. The market believes Jerome Powell's speech on Thursday might provide more insights into the regulator's rate-hike stance supporting recent dovish statements from Fed officials.
XAU/USD was essentially flat during the Asian and early European trading sessions. Today, traders await the U.S. Retail Sales report at 12:30 p.m. UTC. Higher-than-expected figures can fuel expectations of more rate hikes this year, strengthening the US dollar and putting downward pressure on XAU/USD. Lower-than-expected retail sales numbers will probably support gold.
"Spot gold is expected to retest resistance of 1,933 USD per ounce, a break above which could open the way towards 1,953," said Reuters analyst Wang Tao.
"We've got a serious geopolitical situation playing out in the Middle East, I think gold prices are going to track sideways to higher here in the next few weeks with 2,000 not out of the equation," added Jim Wyckoff, the senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
BTC Surged by Over 10% in a Rumor-Induced Rally
Bitcoin (BTC) rocketed towards 30,000 during the early American session following the false message about the approval of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), the owner of the ETF fund, later confirmed that the report was false and that the SEC didn't issue the approval. However, the news spread quickly on social media and sparked enough trading activity to impact the BTC price significantly. According to CoinGlass data, 81 million dollars worth of short positions were liquidated on the initial rise, and then long positions of 31 million dollars were liquidated in the following correction.
BTC/USD was declining during the Asian and early European sessions. Today, the release of the U.S. Retail Sales at 12:30 p.m. UTC may trigger some volatility as interest rate expectations partly drive the BTC price.