Gold market in the first week of August

Last week, the price of gold rose to $1,832 per troy ounce. However, analysts note that the asset's growth was insufficient, especially if we take into account the strong drop in the US dollar after the unexpected results of the Fed meeting. The regulator warned about the possibility of an increase in interest rates in 2023, while not excluding the fact that this could happen earlier if the rise in inflation turns out to be too strong.

Apparently, the demand for gold remains rather modest, as the pandemic is partially brought under control in Western countries (thanks to mass vaccinations), and the largest central banks continue to invest trillions of dollars in their economies.

At the same time, many analysts are confident that the financial bubble, inflated by these economic incentives, will burst sooner or later, and the consequences of a new wave of the pandemic will turn out to be even more dire. Against this backdrop, investors will be cautious, and gold will once again become more attractive than traditional assets.

According to the report of the World Gold Council, the demand for precious metals in the second quarter of the year increased compared to the first (284.5 tons versus 180.7 tons). The gold market was also supported by the central banks of many countries, which bought almost 200 tons of precious metal for their reserves. And this was the highest since the second quarter of 2019. In general, it was investment demand and purchases from central banks that led to an increase in the gold rate by 4% over the reporting period.

However, at the beginning of the first trading week in August, gold quotes are declining: the current price of the metal is $1811 per ounce.