By Sarah Qureshi and Noel John
(Reuters) – Gold prices rose on Thursday as traders turned to the safe-haven asset amid ongoing tariff uncertainty ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s August 1 deadline to end negotiations.
Spot gold was up 0.6% at $3,294.56 per ounce, as of 01:54 p.m. ET (17:54 GMT), after rising more than 1% earlier today.
U.S. gold futures settled 0.1% lower at $3,348.6.
“We’ve seen an uptick in trade uncertainty as we approach this August 1st deadline for tariffs… just a little bit of a revival of the safe-haven bid,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.
Trump said he had agreed to extend an existing trade deal with Mexico for 90 days and continue talks over that period with the aim of signing a new deal.
This followed a day after he made a blitz of tariff announcements on Wednesday, including on imports from Brazil and South Korea, ahead of the deadline for higher U.S. tariff rates.
U.S. inflation increased in June as tariffs on imports started raising the cost of some goods. The PCE index rose 0.3% last month after an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in May.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady in the 4.25%-4.50% range, and Chair Jerome Powell’s comments after the decision dampened hopes for a September rate cut.
Gold thrives in a low-interest rate environment as it is a non-yielding asset.
Investors now await the U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday for more clues on the Fed’s rate path.
Spot silver dropped 1.4% to $36.61 per ounce, its lowest since July 7.
Platinum fell to its lowest level since June 24, easing 2.1% to $1,285.20, and palladium lost about 2% to $1,181.49, reaching an over two-week low.
“It would not be surprising if strong selling pressure in silver futures is partly due to sympathy selling amid the big copper market meltdown,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals, said. [MET/L]
(Reporting by Sarah Qureshi and Noel John in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Leroy Leo)
