The Fed stays put but remains hawkish in tone. Gold holds strong, while U.S. stocks take a sharp dive. Why? Gold has been pricing in Fed rate hikes since March. As long as there are no hikes, there’s no more bad news to digest. On the other hand, U.S. stocks, which saw overall gains in Q2, haven’t fully priced in the Fed’s rate hike expectations. Now, compared to gold, the U.S. market is catching up on digesting those expectations.