Gold stocks were in favour on Thursday afternoon, buoyed by a rebound in bullion prices following a sharp midweek pullback.
The spot price rose 1.6% to $3,348.10 an ounce, reversing some of Wednesday’s losses after gold briefly slipped below $3,300. That drop had followed earlier highs of $3,500.05, set earlier in the week.
Analysts framed Thursday’s bounce as a vote of confidence in gold’s long-term fundamentals, despite shifting headlines around US-China trade talks.
The yellow metal’s traditional safe-haven appeal has been bolstered by renewed geopolitical tension, including reports of fresh drone and missile attacks on Kyiv by Russian forces.
Panmure Liberum described the current price swings as “driven largely by talk of a reversal of US tariffs levelled at imports from China” and Washington’s “push to end the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to Russia”.
Both, it said, were potentially bullish for industrial commodities and bearish for gold.
The broker added: “Trump’s managing both events, so the confusion’s probably set to continue.”
In afternoon trading, Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF) was up 2.5% and Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES) advanced 1.5%.