Gold was among few beneficiaries as Donald Trump’s tariffs sent stocks spiralling on Tuesday.
Come the afternoon in New York, the yellow metal was up 0.82% for the day at $2,914 an ounce as investors rushed for a safe haven.
US stocks tumbled in the meantime, with the Dow Jones leading declines on Wall Street on a 1.5% drop as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell 0.5% and 1.1% respectively.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs, the largest set in almost a century, came into force against Mexico, Canada and China on Tuesday, sparking retaliatory measures.
Fears of escalating trade tensions subsequently fuelled fears around economic growth, leaving traders fully pricing in three quarter-point interest rate cuts by the Fed in 2025.
Gold’s gain on Tuesday meant it had added $57 an ounce since the weekend and edged closer to yet another record, after last month’s all-time high of $2,958.
“The ultimate haven in this storm is gold,” XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks noted.