Gold ETF posts sharp rally
The SPDR Gold Shares ETF was up 3.3% in morning trading, according to FactSet data, at last check. That brought its year-to-date gain to a massive 30.6%.
Source – Market Watch
As economic uncertainty deepens worldwide, gold prices have notched more and more record highs.
The going price for New York spot gold hit a record $3,424.24 per troy ounce — the standard for measuring precious metals — as of close Monday. That’s about $1,097 higher than a year ago.
The price of spot gold is up more than 30% since the start of 2025, per the data firm FactSet. By contrast, the stock market has tumbled. The benchmark S&P 500 is down over 12% this year.
Gold futures also reached a record early Tuesday, briefly surpassing the $3,500 mark for the first time before falling closer to $3,444 by mid-morning.
Source – The Associated Press
Indonesia has restricted raw material exports to pressure companies to refine minerals locally and add value to its exports. Freeport has local refining capacity, but is seeking to keep exporting concentrate due to a fire last October at its Manyar smelterin East Java.
Should exports resume, it will relieve, although not reverse, a shortage of copper concentrate that has hit the profits of smelters.
Source – Reuters
“We’re going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there… do you know about that?” Trump said to a reporter aboard Air Force One, according to a video posted to X by Musk.
“We hope everything is fine with Fort Knox, but we’re going to go into Fort Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, to make sure the gold is there.”
“If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset,” Trump said.
Then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., visited the vaults in 2017. They reported that, despite various conspiracy theories, the gold was present.
Source – FOX News
“There is a demand from consumers for hallmarking of silver. You (BIS) can deliberate and take a call,” Joshi said at the 78th BIS Foundation Day event.
BIS is Bureau of Indian Standards
Source – Business Standard
Oil flows from the United States to China in the early months of this year have reportedly added up to roughly 1% of the country’s imports, amid growing tariffs and trade risks.
“With China imposing 84% tariffs on goods from the US, the cost of US crude would be almost double — $51 a barrel more expensive, based on $61 WTI,” Ivan Mathews, head of APAC analysis for Vortexa told Bloomberg. “This makes running US crude uneconomical for Chinese refiners.”
US crude imports to China will “likely dwindle to zero in the coming months if the current tariff levels stay,” he added.
Source – Seeking Alpha