Safe-haven gold heads towards a one-month low as global tensions ebb
Gold fell more than 1% to its lowest level in nearly a month on Friday due to easing geopolitical and trade tensions and as investors awaited U.S. inflation data for clues on the future trajectory of interest rates.
Spot gold lost 1.3% to $3,283.56 per ounce by 0839 GMT, its lowest since late May. Prices have fallen by over 2% this week and more than $200 from a record high scaled in April.
U.S. gold futures fell 1.6% to $3,295.70.
The Iran-Israel ceasefire, brokered earlier this week by U.S. President Donald Trump, is holding for now.
A White House official said on Thursday that the U.S. has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earths shipments to the U.S.
"We had an absolutely fantastic run a few months ago. It's quite conceivable that after such strong upward momentum, we're now seeing some mean reversion," said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree.
"Market focus is shifting back toward trade as we are approaching the expiry of several trade truces."
July 9 is the deadline for Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs as nations rush to get an agreement.
The immediate focus is the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure data, an inflation gauge, scheduled for release at 12:30 GMT.
Some of the inflationary effect of tariffs may just be delayed, Minneapolis Fed Bank President Neel Kashkari said. While, Fed Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said tariffs are very likely to push inflation up over the coming months.
Despite its reputation as a hedge against inflation and uncertainty, zero-yield bullion loses appeal in a high interest rate environment.
Spot silver fell 1.4% to $36.09.
Platinum dropped 3.8% to $1,363.66, after hitting its highest since 2014. Palladium fell 0.2% to $1,129.98.
Source: Reuters
