The problems surrounding the tax reform and the related weakness of the US dollar allowed "bulls" for the XAU/USD to go into a counter-attack. Gold enjoys an increased demand for safe-haven during conditions when the risks of correction of the S&P 500 significantly grows. Indeed, the desire of Senate Republicans to connect its plan of repairing the fiscal system with the dismantling of Obamacare, appears to be ideal. To a certain degree, the chances of a compromise plan through Congress before the end of 2017 are extremely low, even though Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and economic adviser to the President Gary Cohn claim otherwise. Along with the approaching date when the problem of the ceiling of the national debt should be solved, this factor forces investors to get rid of the shares.
The tightening of monetary policy and the reduction in the balance sheet of the Fed are "bearish" drivers for the S&P 500, which grew due to hopes of an implementation in the tax reform. Now this prize at the stock index is ready for the taking. As a result, investors flee from risk, which is clearly visible as currencies of developing countries are being sold. I do not think that the panic will last long. The Fed remains committed to an extremely slow normalization, the health of the US economy does not cause concern, and the devaluation of the dollar contributes to improved corporate earnings reports. This is not the best news for the recovery of the precious metal from the "bullish" trend in the US stock market.
For more than a month, gold traded in the range of 3.3%, the narrowest since February 2013, while its volatility is at its lowest level in the last 7 years. The yellow metal went into a sleep mode, bulls expect to support short-term drivers of growth, while the medium and long-term outlook for XAU/USD appears "bearish." When central banks move from unconventional to traditional monetary policy, and the global yield of debt markets begins to move away from the area of long-term lows, it is possible to forget about the recovery of the long-term upward trend.
Dynamics of the yield of US and gold bonds
Source: Bloomberg.
At the same time, record shows that from June 2004 to June 2006, when the federal funds rate increased to 5.25%, gold prices rose 50%. From June 1999 to May 2000, the growth rate to 6.5% allowed the precious metal to add 6% to its value. What's the problem? In my opinion, parallels are unlikely to hold parallels, because the asset reacts sensitively to real rates of the debt market, and in conditions of sluggish inflation, the increase in nominal yield will put pressure on prices. Simply put, reasons must be sought in different CPI growth rates in the 2000s and now. It is highly unlikely that the XAU/USD pair will rise above $1,500 an ounce before the US economy plunges into a new recession.
Technically, the release of precious metals beyond the downstream channel increases the risk of an activation of the "Dragon" pattern and the continuation of a downward trend in the direction of $1320 per ounce and above. In order for this scenario to turn into reality, a strike on $1302 is required.
Gold, daily chart