Economy

Gold hits two-week high on safe-haven demand ahead of Fed policy

 Gold prices rose to a two-week high on Tuesday as concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans boosted interest in the safe-haven metal, while investors awaited the Federal Reserve policy meeting on Wednesday.

Spot gold gained 0.9% to $3,362.69 an ounce as of 0632 GMT, after hitting its highest since April 22 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures climbed 1.5% to $3,370.40.

“Gold prices have a strong run-up to start this week, with investors returning to the safe-haven asset to hedge against portfolio volatility amid renewed tariff concerns from U.S. President Donald Trump,” said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

On Sunday, Trump announced a 100% tariff on movies produced overseas, but disclosed few details on just how such a levy would work.

On Monday, he said he intends to announce pharmaceutical tariffs within the next two weeks.

The Fed’s interest rate decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on Wednesday are being closely watched for clues into the central bank’s rate trajectory. The Fed has held its policy rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range since last December.

“Any dovish signals could provide further support for gold, reinforcing its broader upward momentum,” Rong said.

The Fed will doubtless leave rates unchanged on Wednesday, but the meeting may be the last where the outcome is so cut and dry with Trump’s tariffs casting a shadow of uncertainty over the economic outlook, a Reuters report said.

“Fed officials will want to see evidence from labor market and other hard data before cutting. We think this will take a couple of months and therefore expect three 25bp cuts in July, September, and October,” Goldman Sachs said.

The non-yielding bullion, a safeguard against political and financial turmoil, thrives in a low interest rate environment.

Spot silver rose 1.5% to $32.98 an ounce, platinum climbed 1.4% to $972.25 and palladium advanced 0.5% to $945.25.

Source : Reuters

GLOBAL BUSINESS AND FINANCE MAGAZINE

Recent Posts

Similarity is not exposure: Measuring spillovers from US–China trade frictions

The redirection of Chinese exports away from the US has fuelled concerns about its spillovers…

6 days ago

Energy labels, feebates and standards: Lessons from the EU’s 2021 reform

The European Commission is simplifying the rules around the EU energy label. This column uses…

6 days ago

The Global Office: Globalisation’s frontier is shifting from factories to offices

Service value chains are expanding faster than industrial ones, yet their geography is strikingly different:…

6 days ago

When wording changes what we find: The impact of inflation expectations on spending

How households’ inflation expectations affect their spending is a central question for researchers and policymakers…

6 days ago

Invest now or pay more later: can the EU climate resilience framework break the disaster-relief cycle?

An anticipatory framework for the European Union to manage climate risks should lead to better…

6 days ago

Why generals need economists to win long wars

Military planners need to work more closely with economists to better understand resource management and…

6 days ago