Investing.com-- Gold prices hit a record high in Asian trade on Tuesday as heightened geopolitical ructions in the Middle East- particularly the breaching of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire- fueled safe haven demand.
Safe haven demand also remained underpinned by persistent uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs and a cooling U.S. economy. Anticipation of a slew of key central bank meetings this week also kept investors geared towards safe havens.
Spot gold rose 0.2% to a record high of $3,008.56 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in May hit a peak of $3,017.50 an ounce.
Israel launches attacks against Hamas target in Gaza, ceasefire talks fail
A slew of media reports said Israel had launched strikes against Hamas targets across Gaza after talks over a ceasefire fell through. The strikes reportedly killed over 40 people, including senior Hamas officials, and drew ire from the group, which accused Israel of violating a January ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas had agreed to a tentative ceasefire in mid-January. But talks over a more concrete peace treaty had soured amid disagreements over the terms of the ceasefire, while U.S. delegates were also unable to broker peace.
Israel claimed the strikes were in retaliation for Hamas’ repeated refusal to release Israeli hostages.
Tuesday’s strikes mark a renewal in tensions in the Middle East, further underpinning safe haven demand for gold, keeping spot prices at record highs above the $3,000 an ounce level.
Fed anticipation, tariff uncertainty underpin gold
Gold also benefited from haven demand amid persistent uncertainty over Trump’s tariff plans, especially as his main targets- Europe, China, Canada, and Mexico- announced a slew of retaliatory measures.
Trump repeated his threat that reciprocal and sectoral tariffs will come by as soon as April 2. Concerns over economic disruptions from the tariffs drummed up fears of a U.S. recession.
A Fed meeting is now in focus for more economic cues, with the central bank widely expected to keep rates unchanged at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Wednesday. But the central bank is expected to taper its hawkish outlook in the face of heightened economic uncertainty.
Beyond the Fed, Bank of Japan and Bank of England meetings are also on tap this week.
Other precious metals rose tracking gold on Tuesday, with platinum futures up 0.4% at $1,030.20 an ounce, while silver futures rose 0.5% to $34.480 an ounce.
Among industrial metals, benchmark silver futures on the London Metal Exchange rose slightly to $9,867.20 a ton, while May copper futures rose 0.1% to $4.9850 a pound.
Copper prices were buoyed by optimism over more stimulus measures in top importer China.