Gold Drops Below $4,000 on Profit‑Taking

Gold fell sharply this week, briefly dipping below $4,000/oz after profit‑taking, technical selling and signs of easing U.S.–China trade tensions reduced safe‑haven demand while a firmer dollar also pressured prices. Markets are awaiting Federal Reserve policy guidance and recent U.S. inflation data that reinforced hopes for a 25 basis‑point rate cut. Analysts remain broadly bullish over the medium-to-long term, citing central‑bank buying, geopolitical risk and inflation; OCBC, Maybank and HSBC have raised multi‑year gold targets even as some forecasters (for example Capital Economics) have trimmed longer‑run views. Technical indicators show deteriorated short‑term momentum and warn of a possible multi‑week consolidation with tests of 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages, and silver faces near‑term resistance around $50/oz. The pullback has weighed more on metal‑sensitive Canadian equities than U.S. indexes, though structural supports — ETF inflows, central‑bank buying and robust physical demand in India and China — have limited a deeper correction.