Gold Rises Slightly Ahead of US-Iran Nuclear Dialogue
Gold prices rose slightly on Thursday (February 26th), supported by demand for safe-haven assets amid market anxiety over the direction of US tariff policy, and ahead of the start of crucial nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran in Geneva.
At 5:00 a.m. US time (10:00 GMT), spot gold rose 0.5% to $5,188.77 per ounce, while US gold futures fell 0.4% to $5,204.49 per ounce.
Market attention is focused on the agenda for a meeting between US and Iranian officials, which will discuss Tehran's nuclear program again. Market participants believe that any sign of a deadlock in negotiations or an escalation in tensions could potentially increase inflows into gold, given that the precious metal often serves as a hedge when geopolitical risks escalate.
In addition, investors are still weighing the impact of the announcement of new US tariffs following a Supreme Court ruling that changed the legal basis for several trade policies. The imposition of new global levies of up to 15% adds to uncertainty about the global trade outlook and keeps defensive sentiment alive.
Global markets are also awaiting the release of US economic data on the same day, particularly weekly jobless claims, to gauge the direction of future monetary policy. So far, gold prices have remained solid throughout the year due to a combination of geopolitical tensions, central bank buying, and portfolio diversification flows.
ING assesses that gold has recovered more than half of the decline that occurred during the sharp sell-off at the end of last month. They believe geopolitical risks remain a major upside factor, and escalations involving Iran have the potential to add support and strengthen gold's role as a hedge against shocks.
On the other hand, other precious and industrial metals tended to correct. Silver fell 4% to $87.37 per ounce after strengthening more than 2% in the previous session. Platinum weakened 1.5% to $2,298.95 per ounce after surging more than 5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, LME copper edged down 0.1% to $13,315 per tonne, and US copper futures weakened 0.2% to $6.0315 per pound.
Source: Newsmaker.id
