The easing of the situation in the Middle East and the increasing expectation of interest rate cuts have led to gold approaching $4900 According to BlockBeats, on April 17th, driven by the easing of the situation in the Middle East and the expected rebound of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, international gold prices strengthened significantly, and spot gold rose nearly 2% during the day, approaching the $4900/ounce mark at one point. On the news front, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that the Strait of Hormuz remains open during the ceasefire period, easing market concerns about energy supply disruptions and driving oil prices to weaken in sync with the US dollar. Donald Trump also expressed optimism about reaching an agreement to end the conflict. Analysts point out that the decline in oil prices can help alleviate inflationary pressures, thereby reigniting market expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. At present, traders predict that the probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates before the end of the year is about 60%. According to institutional views, the weakening of the US dollar coupled with expectations of lower interest rates provides direct support for gold, and in the short term, gold prices may be expected to hit the $5000 mark. In addition, in terms of the physical market, due to policy uncertainty, some banks in India have suspended gold import orders, resulting in several tons of precious metals being held up by customs or causing disturbances to the short-term supply and demand structure. Overall, as the market shifts from "inflation shock" to "interest rate cut trading", gold is once again becoming one of the core assets for macro fund allocation.