Comex Gold finished the week at $1,945.8 an ounce, up by 1.12%, but the up side was limited as the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening plans countered inflation concerns intensified by the Ukraine war and mounting sanctions on Russia. The latest Fed minutes showed that officials planned to reduce the central bank’s massive balance sheet by about $95 billion a month, and indicated that one or more 50 basis point interest rate hikes could be warranted to combat surging inflation. The central bank’s hawkish stance lifted the dollar and Treasury yields to multi-year highs, pressuring gold prices. Meanwhile, investors are closely monitoring sanctions against Russian energy after the EU banned coal imports from Russia, while preparing an embargo on Russian oil, gas and nuclear fuel. We expect the yellow metal to stay in a tight range in the holiday shortened week. The dollar has broken a psychological resistance of 100 for a brief period of time and trading at almost two years moreover, the US 10 year bond yield is at three year high owing to the hawkish Fed. We reiterate the flat to bearish tone for the week.