“We’re going to need to see continued progress on inflation in order to bring back those interest rate cut expectations,” said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures.
“People are a little bit nervous, and they want to be cautious going into CPI tomorrow,” he added.
Source – Reuters
The safe-haven Japanese yen strengthened on Monday while gold pushed to a fresh peak as traders worried that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs would ignite inflation and crimp economic growth.
The yen was up as much as 0.74% at 148.735 per U.S. dollar at one point on Monday, and was last 0.46% stronger at 149.145.
The Swiss franc, another traditional safe haven, started the day by rising 0.3% to 0.8775 per dollar.
The Canadian dollar was flat at C$1.4321 per greenback.
Mexico’s peso slipped 0.45% to 20.4364 per dollar.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin lost 1% to $81,703.
Source – Reuters
Source – Money Metals
The price of gold rose 1.4% to $2,941 per troy ounce in trading Tuesday, putting it 0.2% off its record high notched last week, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
“After missing several (brief/ shallow) buying opportunities in 2024, investors are likely wary of repeating the same patterns and may want to take advantage of corrections sooner this time around,” analysts wrote.
Source – Barron’s
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
This figure significantly exceeded consensus forecasts, as economists had anticipated job gains of around 164,000.
Adam Button, a market analyst, pointed out that the unexpectedly strong employment report is driving the U.S. dollar higher, which is consequently weighing on gold prices.
Source – KITCO NEWS
Goldman Sachs raised its end-2025 gold price forecast to $3,700 per ounce from $3,300, with a projected range of $3,650-$3,950, citing stronger-than-expected demand from central banks and higher exchange-traded fund inflows due to recession risks.
“If a recession occurs, ETF inflows could accelerate further and lift gold prices to $3,880 per troy ounce (toz) by year-end,” the bank said
Source – Reuters
