(Reuters) – Gold hit a record high on Thursday, as nervous investors rushed towards safe-haven assets after U.S. President Donald Trump announced more aggressive-than-anticipated tariffs against major trading partners, widening the global trade war.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.4% at $3,145.93 an ounce, as of 0018 GMT, after hitting an all-time high of $3,167.57 earlier in the session.
* U.S. gold futures firmed 0.1% at $3,170.70.
* Trump said on Wednesday that he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on dozens of other countries, including some of the United States’ biggest trading partners, deepening a trade war that has rattled global markets and bewildered U.S. allies.
* Trump’s administration also confirmed that his 25% global car and truck tariffs will take effect as scheduled on April 3 and that duties on automotive parts imports will be launched on May 3.
* Gold, traditionally seen as a hedge against political and financial uncertainty, has surged over 19% so far this year, on the back of uncertainty surrounding tariffs, potential for interest rate cuts, geopolitical conflicts and central bank buying.
* Meanwhile, U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in March, but that did not change economists’ views that the labor market was slowing against the backdrop of mounting economic uncertainty due to tariffs.
* All eyes are on the U.S. non-farm payrolls report, due Friday, for further clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.
* Spot silver slipped 1.2% to $33.61 an ounce, while platinum fell 0.8% to $975.93 and palladium lost 0.6% to $964.56.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0030 Japan JibunBK Comp Op Final SA, JibunBK SVC PMI Final SA Mar
0145 China Caixin Services PMI Mar
0750 France HCOB – Services PMI, Composite PMI Mar
0755 Germany HCOB Services PMI, Composite Final PMI Mar
0800 EU HCOB Services Final PMI, Composite Final PMI Mar
0830 UK S&P GLOBAL PMI: COMPOSITE – OUTPUT Mar
0830 UK Reserve Assets Total Mar
1230 US International Trade $ Feb
1230 US Initial Jobless Clm 29 Mar, w/e
1345 US S&P Global Comp PMI Final, S&P Global Svcs PMI Final Mar
(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
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