Platinum Price News: XPT/USD refreshes 12-day top near $1,000 as bulls cheer Fed decision

• Platinum stays firmer around two-week top, rises for a third consecutive day.
• Fed matched market forecasts of 50 bps rate hike, QT hints but Powell’s rejection of 75 bps move drowned USD.
• Markets remain cautious optimistic even as headlines from China, EU tests buyers.
• Second-tier US data can entertain traders ahead of Friday’s NFP.

Platinum (XPT/USD) prices grind higher surrounding $1,000, at a two-week top, on firmer market sentiment during early Thursday.

Alike other commodities, the XPT/USD also cheers the post-Fed cautious optimism, as well as the sluggish US dollar while printing a two-week high, not to forget rising for the third consecutive day. The run-up, however, remains capped by the key DMAs and challenges to sentiment, mainly concerning Russia and China.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) licks the post-Fed wounds, up 0.13% intraday around 102.65. Even so, the greenback gauge isn’t out of the woods as it struggles to refresh intraday high while trying to reverse the biggest daily loss in two months.

The DXY dropped the previous day as Fed Chair Jerome Powell ruled out a rate hike worth 75 basis points (bps) in upcoming meetings, which was something the market players were expecting. Even so, the Fed matched wide market forecasts by providing 50 basis points (bps) of a rate hike and clues for the Quantitative Tightening (QT) the previous day.

Talking about the negatives to risk appetite, the US-China tussles as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) added over 80 Chinese firms to the list of companies facing probable delisting from the US exchanges. On the same line were ongoing covid woes and the European Union’s (EU) sixth round of sanctions on Russia.

Looking forward, XPT/USD prices may keep cheering the USD weakness, as well as cautious optimism in the market ahead of Friday’s US jobs report. Though, today’s second-tier US data and BOE may offer intermediate moves.

Technical analysis

A clear upside break of the two-month-old descending trend line, around $968.00, keeps platinum buyers hopeful. However, the 200-DMA and the 100-DMA, respectively near $1005 and $1015, challenge the short-term upside of the metal.