Fed Likely to Hold Rates in 2025
Gold has benefited from geopolitical uncertainty and central bank demand, but a prolonged period of restrictive Fed policy presents risks.
Source – FXEMPIRE
Total assets under management (AUMs) in gold-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit record highs of $271 billion in 2024, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).
This represented a 26% year-on-year increase and was driven by a soaring bullion price.
The yellow metal hit new all-time highs on 40 occasions last year, the WGC noted. Over the whole year, gold appreciated 26% in value to around $2,629 per ounce.
Source – Forbes
Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) +9.5% pre-market Monday after saying Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) agreed to acquire the company in an all-stock transaction with an implied value of ~$3.5B.
Under the deal terms, Sandstorm (NYSE:SAND) shareholders will receive 0.0625 of a share of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) common stock for each Sandstorm share held, a 17% premium to Sandstorm’s closing price on July 3; upon closing, existing Royal Gold and Sandstorm shareholders will own ~77% and 23%, of Royal Gold’s issued and outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis.
Source – Seeking Alpha
Idaho yesterday formally ended state income taxes on gold and silver as part of its largest tax cut in state history.
House Bill 40, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Moyle and begrudgingly signed by the state’s liberal Republican governor Brad Little, provides a sweeping $253 million income tax cut for Idahoan taxpayers by lowering the rate from 5.695% to 5.3% while also adding two specific exemptions.
Moyle said today, “I’m proud to help secure another $253 million in income tax cuts for Idaho families. Meanwhile, it makes no sense for Idaho to tax gold and silver, the only money mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.”
Source – Money Metals
Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals is looking for critical minerals projects in Zambia to invest in, the southern African country’s mines minister Paul Kabuswe told Reuters on Thursday.
“They (Manara) are interested, but we do not know which ones yet,” he said on the sidelines of a mining conference in Riyadh, adding that an announcement on a potential mining deal between Zambia and Saudi Arabia is likely this year.
“We no longer want those agreements where we have 10% or 15%,” he said, adding that the government is also holding talks with Barrick Gold, Ivanhoe Mines and Chinese investors on their plans for new projects.
Source – Reuters
“We could envision a situation where inflation migrates higher, while the economy slows down as the auto sector grinds to a sudden halt, for example,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. “Higher inflation and low rates, and the associated angst with the president’s imposition of tariffs, so uncertainty and risk are helping gold.”
“These tariffs create a strong tailwind for gold,” Bank of Montreal analysts wrote in a note. “Not only because of their inherent inflationary effects but also as the USA’s increasingly hawkish foreign policy may accelerate de-dollarisation plans.”
Source – Bloomberg

Source – APMEX