Gold continued its year-long consolidation in a range centered roughly around $1,800 per ounce. U.S. interest rates, the U.S. dollar, and the U.S. Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) remain gold’s dominant drivers. Based on U.S. interest rate futures prices, on January 3 the market was anticipating the first Fed rate increase in May, with 77 basis points (bps) of tightening expected by year-end. Over the course of the month, markets priced in an increasingly hawkish Fed following the release of the minutes from the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, Fed Chairman Powell’s congressional confirmation ... (full story)