Bengaluru — Gold prices fell on Wednesday to their lowest point in more than a week, under pressure from a stronger dollar and rising treasury yields, as the latest tariff threats from US President Donald Trump unsettled markets.
Spot gold was down 0.2% at $3,295.03/oz by 4.35am GMT, after hitting its lowest level since June 30. US gold futures fell 0.4% to $3,303.20.
Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and introduce long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Trump reiterated his threat of 10% tariffs on Brics nations on Tuesday, a day after notifying 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of tariff increases set to take effect on August 1.
The dollar index strengthened 0.2% after hitting a two-week high late on Tuesday, while the yield on benchmark 10-year US treasury notes hovered near a three-week high.
The price trend that had been rising since mid-February had broken down, signalling weakness, with a stronger dollar and higher treasury yields, amid uptick in US interest rates, putting pressure on gold, Marex analyst Edward Meir said.
Higher yield increases the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while a firmer dollar makes greenback-priced gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Investors will closely examine the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes, due later in the day, for hints of potential interest rate cuts amid the central bank’s wait-and-see approach.
“It’s a light week for economic data, but how prices react to minutes from June’s FOMC [Federal open market committee] meeting may help establish where we are in Fed versus markets policy debate,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.
Meanwhile, Americans’ inflation outlook remained stable, with the New York Fed’s latest survey showing one-year inflation estimates at 3%, down from 3.2% in May, while the three- and five-year expectations stayed at 3% and 2.6%, respectively.
Spot silver fell 0.7% at $36.53/oz, platinum was down 1.2% at $1,343.24 and palladium lost 0.8% to $1,102.28.
Reuters
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