HK Stock Market Move | Collective decline in gold stocks, strong US dollar and inflation concerns suppressing gold prices. The pace of Fed rate cuts may still be uncertain.

Gold stocks collectively fell, as of the time of writing, PERSISTENCE GOLD (02489) fell by 6.03% to 1.09 Hong Kong dollars; ZIJIN GOLD INTL (02259) fell by 4.38% to 201 Hong Kong dollars; LINGBAO GOLD (100) (03330) fell by 4.15% to 28.18 Hong Kong dollars; CHINAGOLDINTL (02099) fell by 2.43% to 172.9 Hong Kong dollars. On the news front, factors such as rising oil prices causing inflation concerns and short-term strength of the US dollar have put pressure on international gold prices once again. It was reported that Iran stated that the world should prepare for oil prices reaching $200 per barrel as global oil prices surged again following its military attack on a commercial vessel on Wednesday, with Brent crude oil futures returning to $100 this morning. Furthermore, the latest inflation data from the US showed that seasonally adjusted CPI rose by 0.3% month-on-month in February, with a year-on-year increase of 2.4%. Core CPI rose by 0.2% month-on-month and 2.5% year-on-year, in line with market expectations. GF SEC believes that the February data collection window was before the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28 and did not reflect the impact of oil prices. Market expectations remain tense based on the already postponed rate cut expectations, rising US bond yields, and the appreciation of the US dollar.