Oil is Rising Again and Gold is Making Gains
MARKET NEWS SUMMARY
Bank of America’s global research unit warned that the Fed could raise interest rates to nearly 6%.
Goldman Sachs President David Solomon warned that the Fed’s fight against inflation is far from over because the US job market still looks resilient.
US indices ended daily and monthly lower as investors continued to worry that interest rates would remain high for a long period of time.
After its strong performance in January, stocks fell in February as economic data, and comments from Fed officials prompted the prospects for the central bank to raise interest rates higher than market expectations to be reconsidered.
Traders are starting to price in the chances of a 50bps rate hike in March, although the odds are still low at around 23%, and the forecast is for rates to peak at 5.4% by September, up from 4.57% at present.
Dollar index (USDX)
The dollar index declined by 0.1% as markets continued to be affected by economic data. Investors await consumer confidence data for more clarity, with increasing expectations of raising interest rates to 6%.
Pivot Point: 104.70
| Resistance level | Support level |
| 105.10 | 104.50 |
| 105.30 | 104.15 |
| 105.90 | 103.55 |
British Pound (GBPUSD)
Supported by the decline of the US dollar, the British pound is trying to settle higher, close to its pivot point at 1.2060.
Pivot Point: 1.2060
| Resistance level | Support level |
| 1.2107 | 1.1960 |
| 1.2190 | 1.1920 |
| 1.2230 | 1.1885 |
Spot Gold (XAUUSD)
Gold prices rose at the settlement of trading on Tuesday, the twenty-eighth of February, but recorded the largest monthly losses since June 2021. Upon settlement, gold futures contracts jumped by 0.7%, or about $11.80, to $1836.7 an ounce.
The yellow metal recorded monthly losses in February of about 5.6%. The prices of the metal were affected by inflation data in France and Spain, which showed a significant increase that exceeded expectations.
Pivot Point: 1,820
| Resistance level | Support level |
| 1,835 | 1,814 |
| 1,842 | 1,810 |
| 1,855 | 1,800 |
US Crude Oil (USOUSD)
Oil prices rose at the settlement of Tuesday, February 28th trading session, recording the highest closing in more than a week, but it incurred monthly losses.
At the end of the session, Brent crude futures rose by 1.8% to $83.89 a barrel but fell by 0.7% in February, while US crude futures rose by 1.8%, recording $77.05 a barrel, the highest close since February 16, but recorded monthly losses of 2.5%.
Pivot Point: 76.70
| Resistance level | Support level |
| 77.80 | 76.20 |
| 78.45 | 75.40 |
| 79.50 | 74.80 |
