(RTTNews) – Gold fell to its lowest in nearly two weeks on Wednesday, as investors assessed conflicting signals on US-Iran peace talks and increased bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike this year.
Spot gold fell a little more than 1 percent to $4,067 an ounce as the dollar index hit a 13-month high on rising bets on US interest rate hikes.
A risk-off mood in global financial markets amid concerns over massive spending by artificial intelligence companies also boosted demand for the safe-haven dollar.
A wave of selling in global technology stocks has raised fears that a surge in artificial intelligence spending will not deliver the returns investors expected.
Micron’s earnings, due late today after the US closing bell, will be a key test for AI-driven memory demand.
On the geopolitical front, the US-Iran peace deal helped ease regional tensions, but controversy remains over whether Tehran agreed to allow UN inspections of its nuclear sites.
US President Donald Trump and Iran are offering conflicting details of their fragile peace deal, raising doubts over its feasibility.
Trump has said Iran has agreed to “infinite” nuclear inspections, but Tehran said it has made no such concessions in negotiations.
A preliminary peace deal between Washington and Tehran has allowed traffic to flow through the Strait of Hormuz again, but Iran’s chief negotiator and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has made it clear that the vital waterway, which normally handles a fifth of global energy supplies, “will never return to pre-war conditions.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that no country is allowed to charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz under any final agreement.
Also, Iran and Oman said they would investigate the charging of maritime service fees in the Strait of Hormuz through a joint working group.
The US and Iran also remain at odds over frozen assets and Israel’s parallel war against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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