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Gold prices stayed steady on Friday, with investors cautious about making big moves. All eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision next week.

– Current Prices: Spot gold stayed at $2,681.55 per ounce. It’s on track for a weekly gain of nearly 2%. U.S. gold futures dipped slightly to $2,705.40.
– Recent Movement: Earlier this week, gold prices hit a five-week high, but they dropped over 1% on Thursday as traders took profits.
– Focus on the Fed: Traders are eagerly awaiting the Fed’s choice on interest rates. There’s a strong (98.4%) chance they will reduce rates by 0.25%.
– Economic Factors: Recent data showed U.S. producer prices and consumer prices rose more than expected, reinforcing the idea that rates will be cut at the Fed’s meeting on December 17-18. Gold tends to do well when interest rates are low.
– Global Updates: The European Central Bank reduced rates for the fourth time this year, and the Swiss National Bank also cut rates by 0.50%, its biggest cut in almost a decade.
– Gold Demand Update: SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold-backed fund, reported a decrease in gold holdings from 873.38 tons to 868.50 tons.
– Other Metals: Silver was steady at $30.94 per ounce, while platinum fell to $927.50, and palladium dropped to $965.22.

Mumbai: HDFC Bank, India’s biggest private bank, has received a warning from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This warning is about some rules the bank didn’t follow in the capital markets area. HDFC Bank mentioned that SEBI pointed out issues related to merchant banking rules, capital and disclosure requirements, and insider trading regulations. The warning letter, which the bank received on December 11, was dated December 9. After hearing this news, the bank’s stock dropped by 0.3%. The bank, which is very close to its all-time highest stock price, said it did not share too many details about the problems but promised to fix the issues mentioned in the letter.

On Thursday, many Syrians gathered to bury Mazen al-Hamada, an activist whose body was found along with 35 others in a hospital morgue near Damascus. This discovery came after the longtime president, Bashar al-Assad, was ousted. Mazen had been imprisoned twice under Assad’s rules. The first time was in 2011 during protests in Syria. He escaped to the Netherlands in 2014 and sought safety there.

Mazen returned to Syria unexpectedly in 2020 but was arrested at the airport and never seen again. Recently, over 30 bodies were found in the morgue of a hospital in Harasta, with many showing signs of torture. Mazen’s family recognized him from photos, and on Thursday, hundreds of people showed up outside Al-Mujtahid hospital in Damascus to pay their respects.

As they mourned, they held up the three-star flag that many supporters of the opposition in Syria have used throughout the civil war. Mazen’s mother was especially heartbroken, and his sister, Amal, shared that a doctor had told her he was likely executed about 10 days ago.

While in the Netherlands, Mazen talked about the awful treatment he faced in Syrian prisons. He said, “They destroyed my good memories. They took away my childhood and youth.” Diab Serriya, who works with families of detained people, mentioned that Harasta was a place where bodies from prisons were collected before being buried in mass graves.

Since the start of the civil war in 2011, around 60,000 people have died in prison from torture or terrible conditions, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Recently, rebels captured key cities, including the capital, during a fast offensive.