Goldman Sachs forecasts up to 12 month copper prices

South Africa’s commodity-backed currency edged up on Monday, helped by higher gold prices, as investors digested last week’s unexpectedly weak U.S. jobs data and awaited tariff updates ahead of the United States’ August 8 deadline.

The bourse was boosted by South African miners, including Gold Fields , up 8%, AngloGold Ashanti (AU.N), at 6%, and Harmony Gold , which rose 7%.

“Our foremost priority is protecting our export industries. We will continue to engage the U.S. in an attempt to preserve market access for our products,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a newsletter on Monday

Source – Reuters

They bought over 1,000 tonnes of the precious metal last year, double the average amount purchased in the previous decade, according to a European Central Bank report published on Wednesday.

The authors wrote that global holdings of gold by reserve banks increased to 36,000 metric tons in 2024, close to the record of 38,000 metric tons reached around 60 years ago.

Now, central bank reserves are composed of, on average, the dollar, at 46%, gold, at 20%, other currencies at 18%, and the euro at 16%.

Source – Business Insider

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