Gold prices steady from all-time high as stocks worldwide slide on Wall Street sell-off
ALBAWABA – Gold prices normalized on Tuesday, having reached an all-time high just less than two days earlier as stocks worldwide crumble after a sell-off wave swept Wall Street over the last couple of days.
Stocks worldwide rallied in November on bets that the Federal Reserve is done with policy hikes and will be cutting interest rate cuts as soon as early next year.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the rally may have gone too far, analysts are concerned, forcing traders to take a step back to assess market trajectories and trends.
Markets surged last month as data pointing to slowing inflation and softer job markets combined with a dovish statements by Fed officials to stoke expectations lower rates in 2024.
Stocks worldwide stumble as Wall Street sell-off wave sweeps the market and gold prices stabilize after rallying to an all-time high - Shutterstock
Those hopes were boosted Friday when Fed chief Jerome Powell said rates were "well into restrictive territory", as reported by AFP.
All three main indexes in New York’s Wall Street ended in the red, with the S&P 500 breaking its winning streak that gained it nine percent last month.
The selling continued Tuesday, AFP reported, with Hong Kong tumbling about two percent and Tokyo and Sydney shedding more than one percent each.
Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also well down.
London and Paris dropped in the opening minutes while Frankfurt was flat.
Stocks worldwide down as traders reassess, gold prices slide to more comfortable levels
Gold prices slid from the all-time high reached earlier this week, at over $2,100 per ounce, back to a more familiar range, within the $2,020-2,040 range.
Having peaked at around $2,040.54 in early sessions, according to GoldPrice.org, gold prices quickly dropped almost $9 dollars on the ounce in later trading, at $2,024.49 by 1331 Amman Time.
Gold futures, however, were up 0.62 percent on Tuesday, according to Reuters, last reported at $2,036.6.
Gold prices rallied to an all-time high as stocks worldwide cooled after a rally in November - Shutterstock
Meanwhile, in Asia, a sell-off in Chinese stocks extended, hurting sentiment in Asian markets. A benchmark for mainland shares was trading at its lowest since 2019, with better-than-expected services activity data failing to assuage concerns over the economy’s muddled growth trajectory.
In the US, American stocks are headed for a rocky end to the year, according to Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, as reported by Bloomberg. The strategist said December could bring “near-term volatility in both rates and equities” before more constructive seasonal trends as well as the “January effect” support equities next month.
Stocks Worldwide: Markets Summary by AFP and Bloomberg
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.4 percent at 32,775.82 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 16,327.86 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.7 percent at 2,972.30 (close)
London - FTSE 100: 0.5 percent at 7,476.92
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.79 yen from 147.19 yen on Monday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0807 from $1.0839
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2614 from $1.2632
Euro/pound: UP at 85.67 pence from 85.77 pence
S&P 500 futures fell 0.2 percent as of 3:15 p.m. Tokyo time
Nasdaq 100 futures decline 0.3 percent
S&P/ASX 200 futures were little changed
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.6 percent
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.9 percent
Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed
