Gold Price News: Gold Scales Last Week’s All-Time Highs

Gold prices rose about 1.3% on Tuesday, coming close to their recent all-time highs, taking support from ongoing risks linked to conflicts and US trade tariffs.

Prices climbed to an intraday high of $2,938 an ounce on Tuesday, up from around $2,899 an ounce in late trades on Monday. That was within a whisker of gold’s all-time high of $2,944 an ounce seen on February 11^th.

Banks raise price forecasts, but downside risks lurk in background

Gold continues to take support due to its role as a safe-haven asset and as a hedge against inflation amid ongoing heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainties. Major banks UBS and Goldman Sachs both reportedly raised their outlooks for gold prices in recent days above $3,000 an ounce.

However, US bank Morgan Stanley has warned of downside risks for gold prices due to the possibility of Russia and Ukraine reaching a peace deal. Since the conflict and resulting US sanctions against Russian assets were a big factor behind the renewed interest in gold by central banks over the last two years, any end to the war could weaken this support, creating downside risks for gold prices.

Upcoming data/events

In the days ahead, Wednesday is looking fairly light on data points and the markets will be watching out for several economic data releases on Thursday, including UK industrial trends orders, weekly US initial jobless claims and Euro Area consumer confidence figures, as well as several speeches by US Fed officials. Beyond that, eyes will turn to Friday’s manufacturing figures from Japan, India, the Euro Area, UK and US, for a pulse-check on economic conditions in several major economies.