Copper’s early-year rally leaves investors unimpressed

A bevy of tariff headlines this week along with geopolitical worries has left investors wary and weary, taking stocks lower in Asian hours, gold to a record peak and the yen to its highest in over two months as sentiment remains fragile.

The risk-off mood meant the yen – already underpinned by rising odds of the Bank of Japan hiking rates again – was the main mover among currencies, hitting its highest level since early December and was last at 150.48 per dollar.

Both Citi and Goldman raised their target price on gold this month, predicting it to breach the $3,000 mark. A large part of the reason behind the bullishness is sustained demand from central banks. Perhaps in these uncertain times, gold is all that shines.

Source – Reuters

“Gold bars are bought as a hedge” against tariff-related downside risks to stocks as well as U.S. and global economic growth, commodity analysts at Citigroup said in a research note on Friday after the U.S. stock market’s close. “In precious metals, we see gold moving higher very near term” to $3,000 per ounce, they wrote.

“Gold has soared to another record high today amid a further ratcheting up in trade tensions,”  said Joe Maher, assistant economist at Capital Economics, in a note Monday. “Concerns that gold may get caught in the trade-war crossfire may also have led U.S. investors to buy up gold in order to get ahead of any future tariffs that might affect U.S. gold imports.”

Source – Market Watch

Analysts led by Lina Thomas moved their gold forecast for the end of 2025 to $3,300 an ounce, from $3,100.

Gold futures rose 1.3% to $3,060.70 an ounce, buoyed by uncertainty over new auto tariffs announced by the White House on Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, Bank of America lifted its gold-price forecast to $3,500 from $3,000. As with Goldman, their analysts cited central bank and ETF demand, but also pointed out that China’s insurance industry is getting a regulatory push to buy more.

Source – Market Watch