Gold prices gain as dollar hits new high after US Fed rate hike

Domestic gold prices were slightly up on Thursday as the dollar rose sharply after the US Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by another 75 basis points.

On MCX, gold prices surged by 0.09 percent and touched the intraday high of nearly Rs 49,500 as of 10:30 am on Thursday. Meanwhile, spot gold dropped one percent to $1,656.97 per ounce in early trade even as the US gold futures fell 0.5 percent to $1,667.30. However, at the time of writing this report, Spot gold was down 0.8 percent at $1,660.43

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of majors, extended Wednesday gains to make a new 20-year high at 111.72 during the Asia session. The US Dollar Index Futures at around 10:30 am was up by 0.88 percent to 111.315. With this, the rupee depreciated by 30 paise to a record low of 80.28 against the US dollar on Thursday.

Indian equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 also fell on Thursday tracking weakness across global markets, as investors digested another supersized rate hike by the Fed. Losses in financial, IT and oil and gas pulled the headline indices lower, though gains in FMCG stocks lent some support.

Meanwhile, oil rebounded on Thursday after shedding one percent in the previous session as concerns over tight supplies heading into winter eclipsed fears of a global recession. Brent crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $90.33 per barrel by 0319 GMT, recouping their losses in early Asia trade, as per Reuters.

The US central bank on Wednesday night hiked interest rates by 75 basis points for a third straight time and signalled that borrowing costs would keep rising this year. Following the development, Fed Chair Jerome Powell vowed that he and his fellow policymakers would "keep at" their battle to beat down inflation, as

This came on the same day President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's first partial wartime mobilisation amid its invasion of Ukraine in February.