Silver prices marched past the $34-an-ounce mark on Monday as market sentiment soured over the weekend in the wake of renewed US-China trade tensions.
Spot silver traded as high as $34.31 per ounce during the session, for a gain of more than 4%. Comex silver futures also rose 4.5% to $34.51 an ounce.
Source – Mining.com
The Canadian mining company on Wednesday set a 2025 production target of between 520,000 and 580,000 metric tons of copper at its Kamoa-Kakula operation.
Ivanhoe expects to produce between 180,000 and 240,000 tons of zinc at its Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine.
Ivanhoe said that during the last day of the year, a record 750 tons of zinc were produced over a 24-hour period, exceeding the operation’s nameplate capacity.
Source – Market Watch
“Gold bars are bought as a hedge” against tariff-related downside risks to stocks as well as U.S. and global economic growth, commodity analysts at Citigroup said in a research note on Friday after the U.S. stock market’s close. “In precious metals, we see gold moving higher very near term” to $3,000 per ounce, they wrote.
“Gold has soared to another record high today amid a further ratcheting up in trade tensions,” said Joe Maher, assistant economist at Capital Economics, in a note Monday. “Concerns that gold may get caught in the trade-war crossfire may also have led U.S. investors to buy up gold in order to get ahead of any future tariffs that might affect U.S. gold imports.”
Source – Market Watch
Spot gold was up 0.6% to $3,325.20 an ounce at 1134 GMT. The metal has gained 2.5% so far this week. U.S. gold futures were up 0.8% to $3,334.30.
The dollar index slipped 0.3%, making gold more attractive for holders of other currencies.
“The exaggerated moves (in gold) suggest there is strong buying on the one hand on economic uncertainty, while strong selling is in evidence as some see the higher prices as an opportunity to take profit,” said Ross Norman, an independent analyst.
Elsewhere, spot silver eased 0.2% to $32.44 an ounce, platinum rose 0.6% to $981.94 and palladium climbed 0.4% to $980.15.
Source – Reuters
The U.S. Federal Reserve jolted markets with an unexpectedly hawkish set of projections for the path of interest rates next year, setting gold prices up for a blow — but analysts told CNBC they still see solid support for the precious metal in 2025.
The Fed’s “dot plot,” a gauge of policymakers’ outlook, now suggests the Fed will cut interest rates twice in 2025, compared with four quarter-point cuts previously expected in September, when concerns about the weakening labor market were front-of-mind. The big concern for the central bank is now whether the policies of incoming President-elect Donald Trump — particularly his threat of sweeping trade tariffs — will prove inflationary.
Source – CNBC
“Given the current scenario, central banks are likely to continue diversifying their reserves with gold for financial and strategic reasons,” ICICI Securities stated in its report.
Pankaj Pandey, Head of Research at ICICI Securities, noted, “We anticipate fresh investment demand for gold in 2025 as investors seek a store of value amidst trade war anxieties.”
Silver is poised to outperform gold in 2025, supported by strong industrial demand from green energy applications, including photovoltaics and electric vehicle (EV) electrification, said ICICI.
Source – Live Mint
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the White House was “very busy” crafting its trade policy as the clock ticks down on his self-imposed August 1 deadline. At that point, America could fundamentally reshape the way it does business around the world.
Trump signed executive actions on Wednesday imposing a 50% tariff on Brazil, a 50% tariff on certain copper products and suspending a tax perk for all countries that allowed cheap packages to fly into the US duty-free.
Trump said the agreement, if completed, would include developing Pakistan’s oil reserves with a yet-to-be-named oil company.
Source – CNN
