{"id":31125,"date":"2026-03-19T14:59:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/31125\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T14:59:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:59:31","slug":"hawkish-federal-reserve-lifts-the-us-dollar-pushing-gold-down-to-early-february-lows-near-4680","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/31125\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawkish Federal Reserve lifts the US dollar, pushing gold down to early February lows near $4,680"},"content":{"rendered":"Gold (XAU\/USD) fell to about $4,680, its lowest level since early February, after dropping below $4,700. The move was linked to a stronger US Dollar and expectations that US interest rates will stay higher for longer.\n\nThe Federal Reserve\u2019s hawkish stance followed inflation data, including a rise in the Producer Price Index (PPI), plus upgraded economic projections. This reduced expectations for near-term rate cuts and weighed on non-yielding assets such as gold.\n\nGeopolitical tensions in the Middle East provided some support. Developments involving Iran, Israel and the United States, including attacks on key energy infrastructure, increased demand for safe-haven assets.\n\nOn the 4-hour chart, price moved well below the 50-period and 100-period Simple Moving Averages, which were above $5,050 and $5,120. A descending resistance trend line capped advances near $5,150, while the Relative Strength Index was near 15.\n\nResistance was marked around $4,967.00, with further resistance near $5,050. Support was noted at $4,655.28, and a break below it could open a move towards $4,402.23.\n\nThe sharp drop in gold is driven by the Federal Reserve’s firm stance, as we have seen the latest Consumer Price Index report for February 2026 come in at 3.1%, which is still well above the target. The market is now pricing in only one rate cut for this year, which is a significant shift from the three we expected back in January. This makes holding non-yielding gold less attractive compared to interest-bearing assets.\n\nFor traders anticipating further declines, buying put options or establishing short positions in futures contracts could be a primary strategy. The technical charts suggest immediate support at $4,655, with a potential further slide toward the $4,402 level if bearish momentum continues. We should use these levels as near-term targets for any short-side plays.\n\nHowever, the ongoing geopolitical risks, particularly the recent escalation of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, are providing a floor for the price. Any further disruption to energy supplies or direct military confrontation could trigger a flight to safety, causing a sharp rebound in gold. This is the main reason we must remain cautious about being overly bearish.\n\nGiven this uncertainty, a prudent approach involves using options to hedge against a sudden reversal. We are considering buying cheap, out-of-the-money call options to protect short positions from an unexpected price spike. This strategy allows us to maintain a bearish bias while limiting potential losses if the Middle East situation worsens.\n\nLooking back at 2025, we saw gold trade in a wide range, often getting sold off on hawkish Fed commentary only to be bought back on geopolitical headlines. This pattern is similar to what we observed during the aggressive rate-hike cycle of 2022-2023, where gold\u2019s upside was capped but its downside was cushioned. History suggests this tug-of-war between monetary policy and global risk is likely to continue.\n\nThe level of $4,967 remains the critical pivot point for us in the coming weeks. As long as gold fails to break and hold above this resistance, we should view any rally as a selling opportunity. A sustained move above that price would signal that the bearish pressure is fading and would force us to reconsider our short-term strategies.\n

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Gold sinks to $4,680 on stronger dollar, hawkish Fed; Middle East tensions offer support, key levels watched.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}