Gold Holds Near $4,170 as Fed Hike Odds Slip and Oil Hits $110

Gold held near $4,170 an ounce on Friday as traders cut the chance of a Fed rate hike after Chair Kevin Warsh’s Bangkok speech, while Brent crude jumped to $110 a barrel and long‑term Treasury yields rose. The metal slipped 0.1% to $4,168.49 at 04:25 p.m. New York time, after gaining 1.6% on Thursday – its biggest rise in more than two weeks. Warsh’s remarks failed to convince markets that the Fed will keep rates unchanged later this month, prompting the odds of a quarter‑point hike to fall from roughly one‑in‑three to about 15%. Higher rates hurt gold because the metal yields no interest. “Warsh is deliberately trying to temper the market’s hawkish rate expectations and restore some stability to the Treasury market,” said Gerald Gan, CIO of Reed Capital Partners. He added that inflation remains a concern and further tightening cannot be ruled out, but the tone suggests little urgency for back‑to‑back hikes. Gold has been under pressure since the U.S. and Israel began a war on Iran in late February, a move that disrupted energy supplies, pushed inflation higher and led central banks to tighten. The Fed raised rates for the first time since 2023 last month. Oil’s surge to $110 a barrel – the first such level since May – lifted Treasury yields, adding to the downward pressure on gold. Silver and palladium also fell, while platinum rose 0.2% and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.2%. ## Context Gold’s price moves closely with expectations of U.S. interest rates and oil‑driven inflation pressures; a drop in rate‑hike odds often supports the metal, while higher oil prices can raise yields that pull gold lower.