Gold held steady near $4,150 an ounce on Friday and was poised to end the week largely unchanged, as investors weighed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East against the outlook for US monetary policy.
Oil prices eased after President Donald Trump said the United States was engaged in “productive discussions” with Iran and would refrain from launching any attack before the midterm elections. His remarks came despite Iran stepping up attacks on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz this week. US offshore oil output in the Gulf of Mexico was also disrupted by a hurricane.
In interest-rate markets, futures implied roughly an 82% probability that the Federal Reserve will leave rates unchanged this month, while the likelihood of a rate increase in December was estimated at about 81%. On Thursday, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem signaled that borrowing costs may need to rise over the next six to nine months to guide inflation back toward the central bank’s 2% target.
