Gold prices made steady progress last year and have continued that with a very strong start to this year, said George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors. That has led to April gold’s settlement at $3,001.10 an ounce on Comex Friday, the highest most-active contract finish on record.
Source – Market Watch
Spot gold added 0.4% to $2,755.2 per ounce as of 02:29 p.m. ET (1629 GMT). Prices were at their highest since Oct. 31 when they hit their all-time high of $2,790.15.
“There are uncertainties with proposed tariffs and other things, and gold typically does well when there’s a large or even a moderate amount of uncertainty in the market, it’s a natural place where people gravitate to,” said Ryan McIntyre, senior portfolio manager at Sprott Asset Management
“(Trump) has been perhaps just a shade less hawkish on tariffs as feared, which helps — less/lower tariffs is taken to indicate lower inflation hence potential for more rate cuts,” said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.
Source – Reuters
Zinc, the biggest loser in the LME complex, is currently trading 4.8% lower than at the start of the year.
Meanwhile, tin prices have increased by 13.5% in the first few weeks of the year, making it the biggest winner.
Copper refining grew as expected at 4.2%, but mine production surprised at 2.3%, 0.5% higher than the ICSG September forecast.
The supply of refined copper is under threat due to mine production, which has put downward pressure on processing fees in copper smelters, according to Commerzbank.
The lead market experienced a minor oversupply due to a substantial increase in mine production.
This increase, just under 2%, was fueled by significantly higher supply in the US, Australia, Peru, and Mexico.
Source – Invezz
Source – MSN
The precious metal remains supported as concerns about an intensifying global trade war continue to place downward pressure on the dollar and Treasurys amid diminishing faith in the U.S. as a reliable trading partner.
Gold’s price, which soared 6% last week and trades 23% higher since the start of the year, seesawed Sunday evening as investors digested news that recently announced U.S. tariff exemptions on smartphones, computers, and semiconductors could be temporary, with the president later pledging a national security trade investigation into the chip sector.
Source – Investopedia
2 reasons. The most important reason is that we think that central bank demand for gold, will structure your main higher.
The second reason is gold is a great hedge against tariff escalation concerns about debt sustainability. Daan Struyven, Goldman Sachs co-head of global commodities research
Source – CNBC / Video
“With the price now reaching our long-held target of $3,000/oz, the main question is whether the rally will continue. We think so, as long as policy risks and an intensifying trade conflict continue to spur safe-haven demand,” UBS said.
Source – Seeking Alpha
UBS Group AG – formerly Union Bank of Switzerland, is a multinational investment bank and financial services company based in Switzerland.