During Asian trade on Friday, gold fell for a second session and briefly slipped
below $4,000 as persistent expectations of a hawkish Fed weighed. Weak tech
earnings raised concern that rising AI spending may not deliver commensurate
returns, prompting flows into safe-haven US Treasuries and pushing US yields
sharply lower. Renewed hopes for a diplomatic end to the Middle East conflict
drove the dollar down for a third day but did little to ease gold’s downside
bias. Iran’s navy claimed four tankers struck mines in the Strait of Hormuz,
heightening supply-disruption risk and supporting oil. Together these factors
underpin dollar dip-buying and leave gold’s path of least resistance to the
downside; any rallies are likely to encounter selling. Gold is on track to fall
about 3.5% month-to-date.
