Following a quarter-point rise in the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, precious metals similar to silver and gold experienced a surge in worth against the U.S. dollar, with gains ranging from 0.87% to 1.18%. Gold, in particular, has been on an upward trajectory, having uprisen by 3.4% in the past month and over 25 in the last six months.

Fed’s Rate Hike Sparks Surge in Gold and Silver Worths 

As of May 3, 2023, the price of gold per ounce has once again surpassed the $2,000 mark, presently trading at $2,057 per unit, representing a 1.18% rise in the past 24 hours. The Fed’s rate hike has sparked a flurry of activity on Twitter, with precious metals trending and generating numerous conversations and tweets. Meanwhile, global data from Google Trends indicates that the search term “ how to buy gold ” reached a complete score of 100 on Wednesday afternoon, according to 24-hour statistics.

Silver has similarly been on the increase, with the worth of an ounce rising by 0.87% against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. Over the past 30 days, silver has seen a 6% raise, while six-month statistics reveal a 31.5% increase against the greenback. Following the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) decision to increase the benchmark bank rate on Wednesday, chair Jerome Powell emphasized the central bank’s unwavering commitment to reducing inflation.

“ The valuation of the extent to which further policy firming may be appropriate is going to be a proceeding one, meeting by meeting, ” Powell noted. “ We've to balance the threat of not doing enough and not getting inflation under control against the threat of slowing down economic activity too much. And we thought that this rate hike, along with the meaningful difference in our policy statement, was the true way to equalize that. ”

Crypto Assets Increase While Crude Oil Prices Plummet

On Wednesday, not solely did gold experience a surge in worth, but crypto assets similarly saw an increase, with Bitcoin (BTC) surpassing the $29K per unit range and Ethereum (ETH) reaching over $1,900 per unit. Both leading crypto assets saw gains ranging from 1.3% to 1.8% against the note. 

Still, market observers similarly witnessed a meaningful drop in crude oil prices on Wednesday, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Blend, Nymex crude, Dubai Crude, and the OPEC source Basket all recording losses during the day’s trading sessions. This decline in crude prices follows Saudi Arabia and OPEC’s decision to slash back on production ahead this week. 

(Jamie Redman, Bitcoin.com, 2023)