26.06.202600:12:32UTC+00Gold Set for Sharp Weekly Drop

Gold held above $4,000 an ounce on Friday but remained on course for a weekly loss of nearly 5%, as hawkish messaging from the US Federal Reserve outweighed support from progress in US-Iran peace efforts. Bullion staged a modest rebound on Thursday after the latest US PCE inflation data broadly matched expectations, tempering fears of imminent Fed rate hikes and pulling down the dollar and Treasury yields. Nonetheless, markets are now assigning an 80% probability to a Fed rate increase in December after last week’s hawkish pause, with the likelihood of a September hike at about 63%. At the same time, oil prices continued to fall, returning to pre-conflict levels as advances in US-Iran peace talks eased concerns over potential Middle East supply disruptions and further dampened inflation fears.