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Investing.com-- Gold prices fell in Asian trade on Wednesday, seeing limited safe haven demand as uncertainty over U.S. trade tariffs and interest rates pushed traders towards the dollar.
U.S. copper prices were an outlier among major metals, rallying to record highs after President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on imports of the red metal.
London copper futures sank on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Broader metal prices also broadly retreated amid pressure from a stronger dollar, which largely maintained its rebound from recent three-year lows.
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $3,294.88 an ounce, while gold futures for September fell 0.4% to $3,303.20/oz by 00:55 ET (04:55 GMT).
Gold, metal prices pressured by dollar recovery
Gold was close to its weakest level in nine days, as uncertainty over Trump’s trade tariffs did not translate into haven demand for the yellow metal as seen earlier.
Traders were seen pivoting into a heavily discounted dollar, which sustained a rebound from recent three-year lows amid growing bets that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates in the near-term, following strong payrolls data from last week.
Uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs also kept traders biased towards the dollar, as the president began issuing letters outlining steep tariffs against several major economies this week.
The Fed has warned that Trump’s tariffs at their intended levels could push up U.S. inflation, lessening the chances of interest rate cuts in the coming months.
Strength in the dollar weighed on broader metal prices, with the precious metals sector being vulnerable to profit-taking after logging strong gains through June.
Platinum and silver prices were nursing some losses this week after racing to multi-year highs in June. Platinum futures fell 1.1% to $1,376.35/oz, while silver futures rose slightly to $36.838/oz.
US copper prices hit record highs on Trump tariff threat
U.S. copper futures rose 2.6% to $5.6457 a pound on Wednesday, after hitting a record high of $5.8955 a pound on Tuesday.
U.S. prices of the red metal were boosted chiefly by bets on tighter domestic supplies, after Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on copper imports. Such a move stands to greatly benefit domestic copper producers, the most prominent being Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX).
Trump said the move was aimed at shoring up domestic copper production and reducing the U.S.’ reliance on imports of the red metal. Copper has come increasingly into focus over its role in electricity transmission and electric vehicles, both of which are crucial to the green energy transition.
Copper prices outside the U.S., however, slid on concerns over weaker U.S. import demand. Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.6% to a near three-week low of $9,644.45 a ton.
Concerns over softer demand in top importer China also weighed, following a mixed inflation print from the country.