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On this day — January 22, 2022

Chinese New Year: Chinese gold demand surges in the lead-up to Lunar New Year as families exchange gold pendants, rings and bars. Year-on-year, China's January–February gold imports run 30–50 percent above other months.

Saturday — the international gold market is closed. Most retail jewellery markets, especially in Asia and the Middle East, see peak Saturday foot-traffic and physical trade activity.

Day 22 of 365 · Q1 2022 · 6.0% through the year

January 2022 gold market: Hawkish Fed pivot caps the year's open

Range-bound

Hot inflation supported gold; a hawkish Fed capped it.

Gold started 2022 around $1,800 but struggled as the Federal Reserve signalled an aggressive tightening campaign to fight four-decade-high inflation. Rising rate expectations and a firm dollar kept a lid on prices even as real-world inflation ran hot.

What drove gold in January 2022

  • Fed signalling aggressive rate hikes
  • 40-year-high US inflation
  • rising real-yield expectations
  • firm US dollar
Themes#Fed policy#inflation#US dollar strength

Key events in January 2022

  1. Jan 26Fed flags imminent rate liftoff; gold slips

What happened next

The standoff broke in February when Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent gold surging.

For gold buyers

January set 2022's central tension: surging inflation supported gold, but the Fed's response to it worked against the price.