On the other hand, the US Treasury yield, on the benchmark 10-year note, also declined on Thursday, coming in at 1.78%. US economic growth accelerated in the last quarter, as the GDP posted its best performance in nearly four decades in 2021, which weighed on the gold prices. Another thing that is hurting gold’s safe-haven appeal is the rising price of the DXY, which soared to its highest level in 19 months.At 18:30 GMT, the advanced GDP figures came in. For the quarter, it surged to 6.9%, against the forecast of 5.3%, supporting the US dollar. The Advanced GDP Price Index for the quarter also surged, rising by 6.9%, against the anticipated 6.0% and supporting the dollar. The core durable goods orders remained flat, in line with the expectations of 0.4%. Durable Goods Orders fell to -0.9%, compared to the expectations of -0.6%, weighing on the dollar. The unemployment claims from last week remained unchanged at 260K. At 20:00 GMT, the Pending Home Sales dropped to -3.8%, against the projection of -0.9% and weighed on the US dollar. Most of the data from the US was favorable on Thursday, which ultimately added further to the losses in gold prices.

The remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, along with the hopes that the central bank could raise interest rates without viagra-dosage-guide worrying about the strength of the US jobs market, indicate that they just want to get inflation under control. Powell refrained from discounting the possibility of the Fed raising interest rates every month, once the first pandemic-era rate hike takes place in March.

Powell’s hawkish comments and the positive economic data both point towards the first rate hike coming in March. This has pushed the dollar higher and weighed heavily on gold, because it will increase the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing bullion.

While the Fed is hawkish, some analysts still believe that if inflation levels continue to grow in 2022, gold could see bullish bets coming in, as it is also used as a hedge against high inflation. So the risk-averse market mood will help bullion gain some strength if inflation continues to grow throughout this year.