Concerns about mass protests in China are in the spotlight. According to the New York Times, "After a weekend of confrontations between officials and demonstrators, video from two sites in Shanghai and Beijing showed a heavy security presence."
Chinese citizens staged protests against the strict restrictions and lockdowns in China, which led to nationwide protests. Investors are worried that lockdowns and strict restrictions will dampen economic growth in China, the world's second-largest economy.
Various members of the Federal Reserve have been very vocal about the upcoming interest rate hikes. These events affect the sentiment of investors in precious metals.
One of the more hawkish members of the Federal Reserve is St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. Last week, he commented on the need to raise the Federal Reserve's base rate to 7% to cope with declining inflation. Speaking to MarketWatch editor Greg Robb this week, when asked how long the federal funds rate would need to stay in the 5% to 7% range, he said that "the Federal Reserve will likely need to keep its benchmark policy rate north of 5% for most of 2023 and into 2024 to succeed in taming inflation."
During his interview with MarketWatch, Bullard also added that "it seems markets are still underestimating the degree to which the Fed will need to keep policy tight in order to rein in inflation, explaining that there is still some expectation that inflation might subside on its own."
Investors are wondering whether Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will tone down the hawkish rhetoric when he speaks Wednesday at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution in Washington. It is now widely believed that the Federal Reserve will raise its base rate by 50 basis points in December.
However, the likelihood of a 50 basis point rate hike is decreasing. Currently, the CME's FedWatch tool estimates a 67.5% chance that the Fed will raise its benchmark rate by 50 basis points at the last FOMC meeting this year. Just a day ago, the CME FedWatch tool predicted a 75.8% chance, and a week ago it predicted an 80.6% chance.
