Gold stocks gave back some of their recent gains on Wednesday after prices for the metal fell sharply in response to more conciliatory comments from US President Donald Trump.
Spot gold dropped 2.6% to $3,329 an ounce in mid-morning trading, pulling back from Tuesday’s all-time high of $3,500.05.
The pullback came after Trump signalled he had no plans to remove Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and hinted at potential tariff relief for Chinese imports.
Analysts said the shift in tone helped ease investor anxiety, softening demand for gold as a haven asset.
Still, JP Morgan sees the price of the yellow metal hitting $3,675 an ounce by the end of the year, rising to $4,000 in the second quarter of next year.
Hit by the move lower of gold were diggers Endeavour (down 3.7%) and Fresnillo (off 11%), though the latter movement was largely the result of its updated production report.