Gold Climbs as Trump’s Car-Import Tariffs Boost Haven Demand
Gold rose toward its record high as US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on all auto imports, intensifying trade tensions and bolstering haven demand.
Bullion gained as much as 0.6% on Thursday and traded near $3,035 an ounce, less than $30 short of last week’s all-time peak. During the previous session, Trump signed a proclamation to implement a “permanent” 25% tariff on all cars not made in the US from April 2.
Still, concerns the president will keep escalating trade tensions between the US and global partners were partially alleviated when he said some reciprocal duties set to be announced next week would be “very lenient.” Trump also said he would consider lowering tariffs on China to secure Beijing’s support for a sale of TikTok’s US operations to a local company.
Trump’s shifting messaging on his tariff agenda has added uncertainty and volatility into global markets. That’s contributed to gold’s 15% gain so far this year, along with central-bank buying, geopolitical uncertainty and bets on more Federal Reserve monetary easing.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ramped up its gold price forecast to $3,300 an ounce by year-end, citing higher-than-expected central bank demand and strong inflows into bullion-backed exchange traded funds.
Gold was up 0.5% to $3,034.73 an ounce at 1:39 p.m. in Singapore, after holding steady in the previous session. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was down 0.2%. Silver edged up, platinum was flat and palladium eased.
Source : Bloomberg
