Gold Price News: Gold Hits Another All-Time High on Trade War Worries

Gold prices rose on Friday to reach another all-time high, as the markets reacted to a deepening US-led global trade war.

Prices rallied as high as $3,088 an ounce on Friday – a new all-time high for gold – compared with around $3,057 an ounce in late trades on Thursday.

Gold has seen two straight days of strong gains as investors moved money into safe havens, with the markets bracing for new US trade tariffs set to come into force on April 2^nd. US President Donald Trump last week announced a new 25% tariff on all imported cars.

Gold goes into Monday with a further push higher to $3,128 an ounce.

Investors seek shelter from trade war fallout

The deepening trade war threatens to disrupt international supply chains, denting growth across multiple industries. This in turn has created a ‘risk-off’ attitude among investors, driving money into perceived sanctuaries like precious metals.

Compounding this effect, the US PCE price index came out on Friday showing that inflation rose by 0.4% in February month-on-month, and slightly above market expectations of a 0.3% rise. The figures appeared to contribute to weakness in the US dollar, which fell against other major currencies on Friday, driving dollar-denominated gold prices higher.

Upcoming data

Looking ahead, Tuesday will bring Euro Area inflation figures for March, followed by the monthly US ISM manufacturing PMI figures for March and the JOLTs job openings numbers for February, for an update on the US labour market. The markets will also be watching out for Wednesday, which is the day that new US import tariffs are set to take effect.