Daily Digest Market Movers: Gold price is undermined by rising US bond yields

and a modest USD strength; downside seems limited

• Gold prices faded from the post-FOMC spike to a fresh record high and dived to a multi-day low on Wednesday amid a goodish US Dollar recovery from its lowest level since July 2023.
• The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to the 4.75%-5% range and forecast rates falling by another half of a percentage point by the end of this year. 
• In the so-called dot plot, Fed members projected rates falling to 3.4% in 2025, down from a prior forecast of 4.1%, and declining to 2.9% in 2026, down from a prior forecast of 3.1%.
• The new economic projections revealed that the Fed doesn't see inflation returning to the 2% target before 2026, raising questions about the magnitude of interest rate cuts going forward. 
• Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, during the post-meeting press conference, downplayed concerns about a recession amid cooling inflationary pressures and a very solid labor market.  
• This, in turn, triggered a sharp rise in the US Treasury bond yields, which extends through the Asian session on Thursday and assists the Greenback to build on its recovery momentum. 
• Iran-backed Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets on Wednesday in retaliation to blasts in Lebanon, which killed 20 people and injured more than 450.
• Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared the start of a new phase in the war, raising the risk of a wider Middle East conflict, which could benefit the safe-haven XAU/USD.