John Feneck: Key Gold Price Levels for 2023, 8 Stocks I'm Watching

After February's 25 basis point rate hike, investors are waiting for the US Federal Reserve's next move.

The central bank's upcoming meeting runs from March 21 to 22, and gold market participants are watching closely to see how the yellow metal may be affected. Higher rates are typically a headwind for gold, which does not bear interest.

"If you look at March 22 right now, it's a 72 percent probability that we'll have another quarter point hike. That's sort of baked in I think," said John Feneck, portfolio manager and consultant at Feneck Consulting.

He uses the CME FedWatch Tool as a way to gauge what the Fed may do in terms of interest rates.

"I'm not really sure that the other hikes in May and June are baked in," he continued. "May 3 is looking at a 65 percent probability of a quarter hike, and right now (it's) looking like a 60 percent chance of another hike on the 14th of June. To us that's still a hawkish Fed — even though they're quarters instead of 75s, it's still not a pause, it's still not a cut."

Feneck was speaking on March 7, when the gold price was around US$1,810 per ounce. Since then, it's broken out to cross the US$1,900 level, spurred on by the collapse of two large American banks. At the time, he noted that gold was sensitive to hawkishness from the Fed, but had support at US$1,790, within last year's US$1,750 to US$1,850 trading range.

His comments came on the sidelines of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, and he also shared updates on a number of the mining stocks he's spoken about in previous interviews with the Investing News Network.

Watch the interview above to hear Feneck's thoughts on Guanajuato Silver (TSXV:GSVR,OTCQX:GSVRF), Ascendant Resources (TSX:ASND,OTCQB:ASDRF), Copper Lake Resources (TSXV:CPL,OTC Pink:WTCZF), Aftermath Silver (TSXV:AAG,OTCQX:AAGFF), Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSXV:PGE,OTCQB:PGEZF), Forum Energy Metals (TSXV:FMC,OTCQB:FDCFF), Silver X Mining (TSXV:AGX,OTCQB:AGXPF) and Transition Metals (TSXV:XTM,OTC Pink:TNTMF).

You can also click here for the Investing News Network's full PDAC playlist on YouTube.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: Forum Energy Metals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.

The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.