On Tuesday, gold reached a one-month high, but could not stay at the peak. Experts consider this indicative: bullion does not have strong support, and they are waiting for an imminent fall.

Last week, concerns about the new COVID-19 strain served as a springboard for gold. However, at the beginning of the current seven-day period, they have significantly decreased, as more and more experts are inclined to believe that omicron is softer than previous versions of coronavirus.

Oxford University immunologist John Bell said that the new strain is not "the same disease that we observed a year ago," because even those patients who are now in the hospital spend much less time there. According to the expert, this once again confirms the opinion about the softer nature of Omicron.

Optimism that the new strain, despite its high contagiousness, does not pose a serious threat to global economic growth, has put strong pressure on the safe-haven asset.

During yesterday's trading, gold prices peaked at $1,821.60. This is the highest intraday value in 5 weeks. The jump in quotes provoked a decline in the yield of US government bonds, which fell to 1.48%.

Meanwhile, the dollar, on the contrary, showed positive dynamics amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates as early as March to counter rising inflation. The green currency index rose 0.1% to 96.195 points on Tuesday. A stronger greenback also forced gold to retreat from the intraday high.

Nevertheless, the yellow asset ended the session on the New York COMEX Exchange with an increase. Bullion rose slightly – by only 0.1%, or $ 2.10 dollars. The final mark was $1,810.90.

Analyst David Meger predicts that in the near future the precious metal will continue to trade in a sideways trend, which has been observed on the market since November. In his opinion, consolidation will be supported by increasing inflationary pressure.

On the one hand, rising prices can increase the investment attractiveness of a protective asset. On the other hand, there is a possibility that another surge in inflation will force the Fed to accelerate on the way to raising interest rates, which is negative for gold.

Currently, most analysts believe that the situation of precious metals will worsen next year, as the US central bank will take measures to combat inflation fairly quickly by raising interest rates.

Recall that at the December meeting, Fed officials announced 3 possible interest rate hikes in 2022. The first stage will begin immediately after the regulator curtails its bond purchase program.

"When interest rates rise, the opportunity costs of owning gold also rise, which ultimately leads to a decrease in its price," said analyst Naim Aslam.

The expert suggests that the weakening of coronavirus risks, which is observed at this stage, may push the Fed to force events. In this case, gold faces gloomy prospects.

According to analyst Giovanni Staunovo, by the end of 2022, against the background of rising interest rates, the value of the yellow asset will collapse to $ 1,650. However, at the beginning of the coming year, prices will remain at the current level.