A 12% y/y drop in Q4 gold jewellery consumption to 547t- took the annual total down to 1,877t, down 11%, as unrelenting gold price strength impacted consumers’ ability to buy, the World Gold Council (WGC) said in a report on Wednesday.
For 2025, the WGC said central banks and “ETF investors likely to drive demand with economic uncertainty supporting gold’s role as a risk hedge, but on the flipside, keeping pressure on jewellery.”
Source – Seeking Alpha
President Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have now targeted the San Francisco Mint for closure in a bid to sell the real estate on which the National Register of Historic Places structure stands, theoretically to reduce government expenses.
Mint-wide, the bureau has already trimmed more than 100 full-time staffers, with an edict from DOGE to trim another 200, while the bureau wrestles with vacancies, some of which still need to be filled. Many of the positions trimmed were resolved through resignations and retirements.
Closing the San Francisco Mint could affect the production of many numismatic products, such as Proof sets, silver Proof sets, Proof commemorative coins and Matte silver presidential medals.
Source – Coin World
Spot gold was up 0.3% at $3,336.33 an ounce, as of 1224 GMT, after falling to a low of $3,301.54 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures were up 0.1% at $3,357.20.
“Gold found some floor amid dip-buying, though the uptick lacked bullish conviction. Fiscal concerns and Fed rate cut bets are the catalyst for a recovery in the prices,” said Jigar Trivedi, senior commodity analyst at Reliance Securities.
Spot silver was steady at $36.72 per ounce, hovering near a more than 13-year high. Platinum eased 0.1% to $1,218.85, after hitting its highest level since May 2021. Palladium lost 1.4% to $1,059.02.
Source – Reuters
China’s unwrought copper imports declined by 7.2% year-on-year to 837,000 metric tons in the first two months of 2025, customs data on Friday showed, due to increased domestic smelting capacity that reduced the need for additional imports.
Deliverable copper stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange stood at 268,337 tons on February 28, more than double the 83,174 tons recorded on January 3.
Source – Reuters
The EV industry in China and the world is already booming; pumping copper’s status as “the new oil”. As such, the red metal is set to rise above the current uncertainties to record significant gains in the medium to long term.
Copper has also jumped above the 50-day moving average, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has continued rising. Therefore, it will likely rebound and retest the key support at $5 in the coming weeks.
Source – Invezz
RSI (Relative Strength Index) – is a technical indicator intended to chart the current and historical strength or weakness of a stock or market based on the closing prices of a recent trading period.
Gold prices climbed on Thursday due to escalating concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s impending tariff plans, which could further strain global trade relations.
Spot gold added 0.3% to $2,913.40 per ounce as of 11:58 a.m. ET (1658 GMT), moving back towards its record peak of $2,942.70 hit on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures firmed 0.4% to $2,941.40.
“The major factor is political uncertainty and the economic consequences … the PPI was pretty much neutral and it didn’t really have much of an effect on gold, investors around the world are worried about what the Trump policies will do to the overall economy,” said Jeffrey Christian, managing partner of CPM Group.
Spot silver fell 0.3% to $32.13 per ounce. Platinum was down 0.2% to $990.15 and palladium was up 1.6% to $989.50.
Source – Reuters
Chilean miner Antofagasta said on Wednesday its copper production rose 11% to 314,900 metric tons in the first half of 2025, on higher production from its two concentrators.
The London-listed company left guidance for full-year copper output unchanged between 660,000 and 700,000 tons.
Source – Reuters
