Gold (XAU/USD) extends its decline on Thursday, slipping to over a one-month low as shifting near-term macroeconomic dynamics overshadow its traditional safe-haven appeal, despite heightened geopolitical tensions from the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran.

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), explains the ECB's decision to leave key rates unchanged at the March policy meeting and responds to questions from the press.

Rabobank highlights that the FOMC’s March projections show higher PCE and core PCE inflation at 2.7% in 2026, yet unchanged median rate dots, implying only a temporary inflation shock.

United States Wholesale Inventories came in at -0.5% below forecasts (0.2%) in January

United States New Home Sales (MoM) below forecasts (0.72M) in January: Actual (0.587M)

United States New Home Sales (MoM) registered at 587M above expectations (0.72M) in January

According to Reuters, QatarEnergy’s CEO has confirmed significant damage to key facilities, taking around 17% of the country’s LNG exports offline, roughly 12.8 million tonnes per year, for what could be three to five years.

GBP/JPY trades with a downside bias on Thursday as the Japanese Yen (JPY) strengthens broadly following the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) monetary policy decision, while the British Pound (GBP) struggles to gain ground against the Yen despite showing relative strength against other major currencies after th

Scotiabank strategists Shaun Osborne and Eric Theoret note the Canadian Dollar (CAD) is quiet against the Dollar, lagging most G10 peers as yield spreads move in favor of the USD after the Fed and Bank of Canada (BoC) meetings.

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), explains the ECB's decision to leave key rates unchanged at the March policy meeting and responds to questions from the press.

TD Securities’ Senior Commodity Strategist Daniel Ghali warns that Gold faces a challenging backdrop as Middle Eastern conflict strains official sector demand and Commodity Trading Advisors (CTA) keep selling.

Brown Brothers Harriman’s Elias Haddad highlights that an escalating Iran war-driven energy shock, combined with a restrictive Federal Reserve and tightening bias at other central banks, is pressuring risk assets and supporting the Dollar.

Eurozone ECB Main Refinancing Operations Rate meets expectations (2.15%)

Eurozone ECB Rate On Deposit Facility in line with expectations (2%)

Nomura analysts note that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) kept its policy rate at 0.00% and strengthened its guidance on FX intervention as the Swiss Franc (CHF) has appreciated. Very low Swiss inflation and a stronger CHF are seen prompting FX purchases in Q1.

Deutsche Bank’s Sanjay Raja notes the Bank of England (BoE) kept Bank Rate unchanged but clearly signalled a stronger focus on inflation risks. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) dropped its easing bias and stressed readiness to act if inflation expectations rise.

There were 205K Initial Jobless Claims in the week ending March 14, a decrease of 8K from the previous week's unrevised level, the US Department of Labor (DOL) reported on Thursday. This reading came in better than the market expectation of 215K.

ING’s Senior Economist Min Joo Kang notes that the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate at 0.75% and maintained a broadly unchanged economic outlook, while acknowledging higher uncertainty. Governor Ueda avoided giving timing signals on the next move, and ING still expects a rate hike in June.

GBP/USD trades around 1.3300 on Thursday at the time of writing, up 0.28% on the day, supported by a mildly positive market reaction to the Bank of England (BoE) monetary policy decision.

Gold prices remain under heavy pressure on Thursday, breaking below the key $4,600 mark per troy ounce to hit fresh multi-week lows, down for the seventh consecutive day.

In an interview with Fox Business Network on Thursday, United States (US) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US is not attacking Iran's energy infrastructure and added that they have allowed Iranian oil to continue out of the Gulf, per Reuters.

United States Continuing Jobless Claims came in at 1.857M, above expectations (1.85M) in March 6

United States Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey registered at 18.1 above expectations (10) in March

United States Initial Jobless Claims 4-week average: 210.75K (March 13) vs previous 212K

United States Initial Jobless Claims registered at 205K, below expectations (215K) in March 13

MUFG’s Senior Currency Analyst Lee Hardman notes the Dollar has strengthened, with the Dollar Index back above 100.00, as Middle East energy infrastructure attacks lift Brent above USD115 and raise global supply concerns.

The Bank of England (BoE) announced on Thursday that it maintained the bank rate at 3.75% following the March policy meeting, as widely expected. All nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favor of the decision. Markets were expecting two policymakers to vote for a rate cut.

United Kingdom BoE MPC Vote Rate Unchanged came in at 9, above expectations (7)

United Kingdom BoE Interest Rate Decision meets expectations (3.75%)

United Kingdom BoE MPC Vote Rate Hike in line with forecasts (0)