Price of gold falls: the price of the precious metal on Monday morning slightly decreased on the prospects of further interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to trading data.

The December gold futures price on the New York Comex Exchange is down $2.75, or 0.15%, to $1,788.7 a troy ounce. September silver futures went up 0.24% to $19.89 an ounce.

The precious metals market showed a negative trend on Monday morning, fueled by expectations of further interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve after the release of the country’s labor market data.

Thus, the unemployment rate in July fell to 3.5% from the June level of 3.6%, while the number of the employed in non-farm industries increased by 528,000. Analysts had expected the figure to remain at June’s level. The increase in nonfarm payrolls was forecast at 250,000.

“Support from geopolitical tensions “was countered by the resilience of the U.S. dollar after the release of a credible U.S. jobs report and hawkish comments from Fed officials,” Ravindra Rao, vice president of commodities at Kotak Securities, told Bloomberg news agency.

Current Goldman Sachs oil price forecast 2022: Analysts (NYSE:GS) believe another drop in Brent prices has been driven by low liquidity and growing multiple concerns, including the recession, China’s “zero tolerance” coronavirus policy and the country’s real estate sector, the release of strategic reserves in the US and Russia’s production recovery.

“We believe the possibility of higher oil prices remains high, even given all these negative factors, as the market is in a state of greater deficit than we have expected in recent months,” experts said.

Nevertheless, they worsened their forecasts for oil prices in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2022 – to $110 and $125 per barrel, respectively, from $140 and $130 per barrel. The forecast for 2023 remained unchanged at $125/bbl.

The previous week the price of Brent had fallen by almost 9%; WTI had fallen by almost 10%. At the moment, futures are near the minimum marks for six months.

Why is oil rising in price? The price of October futures on London’s ICE Futures Exchange for Brent amounted to $95.22 per barrel, which was $0.3 (0.32%) above the previous session’s closing price. At the end of previous trading these contracts grew by $0.8 (0.85%) up to $94.92 per barrel.

The price of WTI futures for September at electronic trades on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) was $89.26 per barrel at that time, which was $0.25 (0.28%) above the final value of the previous session. By market close on Friday, the cost of these contracts grew by $0.47 (0.5%) up to $89.01 per barrel.

The previous week Brent had dropped almost 9% and WTI had fallen almost 10%. Currently, futures are near six-month lows.

The fall in Brent prices was caused by low liquidity and “a growing wave of concerns,” including the recession. China’s “zero tolerance” policy for the coronavirus, the release of strategic reserves in the U.S. and the recovery of production in Russia, experts wrote to Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

They worsened their oil price forecasts for Q3 and Q4 2022 to $110 and $125 a barrel, respectively, from $140 and $130 a barrel. The 2023 forecast remained unchanged at $125 a barrel.