Gold hovered near $4,020 an ounce on Wednesday, consolidating the previous session’s losses as oil prices rebounded amid renewed hostilities in the Middle East. The flare‑up in regional conflict has reignited geopolitical tensions, keeping investors focused on inflation risks and the trajectory of interest rates. The US military reported it had successfully intercepted what it described as a surprise Iranian attack aimed at US forces stationed across the region.
Market participants also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s policy decision, where policymakers are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Even so, futures pricing still implies roughly a one‑in‑three chance of a rate hike, an unusually high level of uncertainty so close to a meeting, despite repeated public calls from President Donald Trump for lower interest rates. Traders are also assigning about an 80% probability to a rate increase in September, reinforcing expectations that borrowing costs could remain elevated for longer.
