Gold Price RECAP March 17-21

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Happy Friday, traders. Welcome to our weekly market wrap, where we take a look back at these last five trading days with a focus on the market news, economic data, and headlines that had the most impact on gold prices and other key correlated assets— and may continue to in the future.

Gold prices are sliding intraday on Friday, but likely not enough to prevent the yellow metal’s next consecutive week of gains and its first-ever weekly close above $3000/oz.

So, what kind of week has it been?

Markets— especially those that, like gold, are typically sensitive to swings in investors’ risk appetite— have learned to expect the unexpected since January 20. The back and forth and tit and tat of US trade/tariff policy initially brought a surge of volatility to most major assets, but with each iteration, investors and managers seem to have become more adept at treading water in between the extremes of being too sensitive to either the announcement of new trade duties into the world larger economy, or their reversal. This week, however, gold reached new all-time highs above $3000/oz thanks to a risk-off shock that markets had not anticipated. It didn’t come from the midweek FOMC decision that investors had tabbed as a potential (if unlikely) flashpoint but from a sudden (re)escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

First, it’s worth touching on Wednesday’s Fed announcements and projections. The best descriptor for the FOMC’s overall delivery on Fed Day may be “unbothered,” despite the up-and-down of many macroeconomic indicators over the last month. In the committee’s statement and in Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting Q&A, the Fed reasserted its confidence in a plan to cut rates twice in 2025, and that there is time and space to “wait and see” the ultimate impact of the Trump Administration’s tariffs before deciding on any reactive shifts. The updated Staff Economic Projections hinted at a little more to worry about, shifting estimates for inflation higher and US economic growth lower.

Although Powell’s comments focused on plans remaining unchanged, many Fed watchers and analysts read a dovish slant into it. In a vacuum, this could have been expected to spur a new leg in gold’s 2025 rally. But thanks to an aggressive climb higher earlier in the week, the yellow metal was much less reactive to the news.

The real gold market mover this week came from the Middle East. Monday’s trading had shown gold to be testing resistance at $3000/oz without a great deal of enthusiasm, but when news broke Monday night of Israeli forces launching a new attack on Gaza, viscerally breaking the two-month truce, the shock and ripples of geopolitical instability saw investor risk-aversion plummet across the financial market. Gold spot prices, as a result, sliced upwards through $3000 like tissue paper. Ahead of Fed Day, the yellow metal topped out at $3045/oz.

Despite the tepid reaction to the FOMC during US trading, the overnight Asian sessions drove spot gold to the true weekly high a few dollars richer, but investors showed little appetite for buying at or above $3050, and on Friday, we’re seeing a mild sell-off, as traders take profits from the new all-time highs. How sustainable the pricing is above $3000 will be a key question as we kick off next week’s trading with a relatively light macroeconomic data calendar that culminates with the release of new PCE Price Index data, the “Fed-preferred” metrics for US inflation.

In the meantime, traders, I hope you can get out and safely enjoy your weekend for the next couple of days. After that, I’ll see you back here next week for another market recap.

Matthew Bolden

Matthew Bolden is an active trader and investor. His passions include writing about financial markets in a simple, pragmatic way. His work has been seen in various arenas within the world of global finance, and he has written commentary on several markets including precious metals, stocks, currencies and options.

Matthew is an avid reader, student of the markets and sports enthusiast who resides in the greater Chicago area.

Courtsey To : Goldprice