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Friday, October 23, 2026
What’s happening: Gold prices traded lower this morning, hitting a three-month low, continuing its downtrend from the previous session.
What happened: Higher crude oil prices raised inflationary concerns ahead of next week’s interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
Weakness in the US dollar lent some support to gold prices this morning, as investors awaited key economic reports today.
Why it matters: Crude oil prices jumped to a five-month high as Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia raised concerns over further disruption to energy supplies.
US initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to 194,000 in the week ended October 17. The figure was better than market estimates of 200,000. Jobless claims fell to their lowest level since mid-July.
While US consumer and producer prices data released last week showed hotter-than-expected inflation, declining weekly jobless claims signalled continued resilience in the labour market, which sparked speculations of the Fed hiking its benchmark interest rates this year.
Markets widely expect the Fed to keep rates unchanged at its meeting this month and announce a rate hike in December.
Although gold is generally viewed as a hedge against inflation, higher rates decrease the demand of the non-yielding bullion.
Meanwhile, India authorised the import of roughly 6,500 metric tons of silver over the next six months to meet surging festive demand.
Weakness in the US dollar lent support to gold prices this morning as a softer greenback makes metals cheaper for foreign currency holders. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, fell 0.1% to 101.51.
Spot price for gold rose around 0.2% to $4,029.48 an ounce this morning, after dipping to its lowest level in over two months in the previous session.
Spot price for gold fell around 0.2% to $4,016.75 an ounce this morning, after dipping to its lowest level in over three months.
In other metals trading, spot price for silver added 0.1% to reach $54.6480 an ounce, platinum gained 0.2% to $1,570.80 and palladium rose 0.1% to $1,056.00.
What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on rising oil prices and comments from Fed officials.
The US is scheduled to release data on S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1745 UAE Time), S&P Global services PMI (1745 UAE Time) and Michigan consumer sentiment (1800 UAE Time) today. Analysts expect the S&P Global US manufacturing PMI to decline to 55.5 in October from 55.9 in September, while the services PMI is projected to fall to 58 in October from 58.8 in the previous month. Analysts expect the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index to decline to 46.3 in October, which would be its weakest level since May’s record low.
Context: The Japanese yen gained versus the US dollar this morning, hitting its highest level in five weeks following the release of inflation data.
Details: Data released this morning showed that Japan’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.1% in September from 1.9% in the prior two months. This marked the highest reading since December 2025.
Core inflation also accelerated to 2.1% from 1.7% in August, reaching the highest level in nine months and rising above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target.
Underlying inflation moving back above the BoJ’s target triggered speculations of another rate hike this year. Although the central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged at its upcoming policy meeting, markets now widely expect a rate hike in December.
Other data released this morning showed Japan’s S&P Global services PMI business activity index climbed to 52.0 in October from a final reading of 51.3 in September, while the manufacturing PMI fell to 53.3 in October from 54.1 in the previous month. Japan’s S&P Global composite PMI business activity index came in unchanged from the previous month at 52.3 in October.
Weakness in the US dollar lent further support to the Japanese yen. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, fell 0.1% to 101.51 this morning.
The USD/JPY forex pair fell around 0.2% to 156.45 this morning, while the Nikkei 225 dipped 1.94% to trade at 61,685.01.
What to watch: Data on coincident index and leading economic index from Japan will be released on Monday. Analysts expect Japan’s coincident economic index to decline to 118.7 in August from a final reading of 120.6 in the previous month. However, Japan’s leading economic index is projected to rise to 118.0 in August from a reading of 117.6 in July.
Other Markets: US trading indices closed mostly lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 down by 1.21% and 2.90%, respectively, and the Dow Jones index up by 0.02%.
Russia launched ballistic missiles on Ukraine, while Kyiv sent several drones toward Moscow on Thursday, despite the recent push by the US to end the war. The news sent the USD/RUB forex pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Singapore’s private home prices surged by 1.4% in the third quarter, in-line with the initial reading, which exerted pressure on the USD/SGD forex pair.
Australia’s S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 49.7 in October from a 21-month low of 49.6 in the previous month, sending the AUD/USD pair higher in forex trading this morning.
Canada’s CFIB business barometer long-term index climbed to 50 in October from 48.5 in the previous month, which exerted pressure on the USD/CAD forex pair.
UK’s GfK consumer confidence index fell 11 points to a reading of -24 in October from -13 in the previous month. Despite this being the lowest reading since April, the GBP/USD pair rose in forex trading this morning.
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