On June 13, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US May CPI rose 4% YoY, achieving its eleventh consecutive decrease and the smallest YoY increase since March 2021, better than expected 4.1% and 4.9% previously; the CPI rose 0.1% MoM, both over expectations (0.2%) and the previous value (0.4%).
On June 15, the Fed announced its decision to keep the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.00% to 5.25%, as expected by the market, and to pause its tightening policy. However, the Fed also stated that it needs to take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy and the lagged effects of policy on economic activity and inflation, while maintaining its 2% inflation goal.
As a reminder, in the post-meeting "dot plot" of interest rate forecasts, most Fed officials predicted two more rate hikes this year, bringing the range to 5.5% to 5.75%. Powell's slightly hawkish comments also weighed on gold, causing it to drop from $1939 to $1928 and returning to levels near March lows.

Source: Investing.com
The European Central Bank's decision of a 25 basis point interest rate hike saved gold from its downward trend, pulling it back to around the $1953-$1960 range and achieving a strong rebound. The ECB’s 25 BP rate hike decision pushed interest rate up to the highest level since 2022 and signaled a further tightening policy.The ECB's stance on future interest rate hikes is more aggressive than that of the Fed, which providing comprehensive support for the Euro while pressuring the US dollar, and leading to a rebound in gold prices.
Mitrade Analyst
Gold fell and stood up again around $1960 with little momentum and unable to break through the nearby resistance in 1977, after Fed’s pause decision and ECB’s 25 BP rate hike. The over expected cooling of US inflation has led to a widespread belief that the US economy may not be heading into a recession as quickly as previously anticipated, and may potentially achieve a "soft landing" . A large disappearance of rate cuts expectation and growing anticipation of rate hike in July creating headwinds to gold, and the US Dollar may be strengthened. However, the US Dollar also may be pressured by the increasing expectation of ECB’s rate Hiking in July. In this case, gold will continue to low level consolidation in the short term.
Gold will be driven up and down by Powell’s congressional testimony. Looking back at his last testimony in March, his hawkish comments on continuing rate hikes were in line with market expectations. Given the current pause and projections of positive economic data, the market may anticipate Powell to further signal rate hike projection in this testimony. If so, there may be a further decline in gold.