Gold Drops As Trade War Selloff Intensifies
Gold, copper and other metals plunged on Monday, extending declines in a market-wide selloff as U.S. President Donald Trump’s expanding trade war batters the global economic outlook.
Bullion, which has repeatedly hit record highs in recent weeks, fell as much as 2.2% to below $3,000 an ounce, while copper dropped as much as 7.7% in London, the most in five years. That followed the metal’s rout against oil, which sent the Bloomberg Commodity Index down 5.8% last week, its worst performance since 2022.
Copper prices have surged as traders warned that the threat of tariffs on the metal would squeeze global supplies. Now, collapsing equity markets, more punitive tariffs in many countries and retaliatory action from China have stoked much bigger fears about global demand. Friday’s selloff on the London Metal Exchange was the biggest since March 2020.
While minimal changes to metals-related tariffs “have a net positive impact, demand declines and recession risks are now front and center,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Bill Peterson said in a note Sunday.
While gold typically benefits from periods of turmoil — and remains up 14% this year — it can sell off during extreme market dislocations as investors seek to cover losses elsewhere.
Gold fell 1.9% to $2,979.73 a troy ounce as of 8:15 a.m. in Singapore. Copper fell 7.2% to $8,150 a ton, while nickel fell 5.5% to $13,945 a ton.
Source: Bloomberg
