Gold continues to trade in an upward $60 price channel, which started on June 20th. Since last Thursday, asset is also trading in a local uptrend, which returned quotes up to the $1430/oz level. If bulls manage to overcome $1430-1436 zone, then it is quite possible they will be able to update the new annual maximum above $1450. Moreover, there are prerequisites for this - on Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve should announce the interest rate decision. The current local trend is caused by the optimism of traders who expect a rate cut for the first time in a decade.
The question remains – for how many base points the rate will be decreased? Most analysts believe that by 25 basis points, but there is another opinion that the reduction will be 50 basis points. Futures on the federal funds rate gives a probability of more than 20% for the interest rate cut by 50 basis points in July. Market participants expect a further reduction by 25 basis points in September, and the probability of a third cut by the end of the year exceeds 50%.
Also, high-level negotiations between the United States and China resumed on Tuesday in Shanghai, after their failure in May. Most likely, there will be no significant progress in these trade negotiations, and their delay may be a factor of gold demand increasing.