Gold Loses the 4,000 Handle as December Rate-Hike Bets Weigh on the Tape
Spot gold at $3,983.43/oz, down 0.94% from yesterday's close (18:14 Beijing time, via Jin10 Data).
Here's the thing — what's pressing on the tape today isn't any single candle. It's that US data. Inflation and growth came in strong together, and December rate-hike pricing got pushed up another notch.
1/
US September inflation accelerated, Q3 GDP grew 3.4%, beating market expectations (via Jin10 Data). Metals Focus, citing CME data, says the market is now pricing an 80% probability of a 25bp hike in December.
That road always ends at real rates. The 10-year TIPS yield is still at 2.63% (October 29, US Treasury). Holding gold, which pays nothing — the carry cost just won't come down.
2/ Silver broke first.
Down 3.00% on the day at $50.59/oz (via Jin10 Data), with the gold/silver ratio back above 76 — first time since December 2025 (Metals Focus).
Why does silver always go first? Because it's the elastic end. Money pulls out of the thing that can't absorb the hit, and that's silver, every single time.
3/ The two geopolitical threads are pulling against each other.
Iran says four tankers hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and oil moved higher on that (via Jin10 Data). Separately, Newsmax reports that current and former US officials say the administration is planning military strikes on Iran.
Look, risk-off should push money toward gold. That's the textbook move. But higher oil lifts inflation expectations, which firms up the hike bets — so the two forces yank in opposite directions and cancel each other out.
On tonight's watchlist:
- 20:30 US Q3 Employment Cost Index QoQ (prior 0.90%, expected 0.80%)
- 21:45 US October Chicago PMI (prior 58.8, expected 56.1)
- 20:30 Canada August GDP MoM (prior 0.00%, expected 0.20%)
To be straight with you — this piece was written from where the market sat yesterday (the 30th). By the time I'm adding this paragraph, gold has already slipped further from 3,983. Down around 3,876, session low at 3,870, and the 3,900 round number gone too.
That's exactly the logic from earlier playing out. The firmer the hike bets get, the less real rates can fall, and the carry cost keeps the lid on gold. Nobody wants to chase the bounces.
Three levels I'm watching:
- 3,870 to the downside — that's today's tested session low. A break opens fresh downside extension.
- 3,904 to the upside — today's close. Whether a bounce can reclaim it is the first hurdle.
- 4,000 — flipped from support over the past few days into resistance. Don't expect it to be taken back in one go.
In a move where a round number gets lost, the thing I avoid most is "it's fallen a lot, so I'll bottom-fish it."
Honestly? That's how accounts die. Until the direction actually changes, I only watch whether the bounce can hold — I don't bet on a reversal.
*Sourced from Jin10 Data; compiled for reference, not investment advice.*