Gold prices moved in a flat-to-low range on Monday, remaining close to recent peaks as safe haven demand was boosted by increasing uncertainty over a U.S. economic slowdown and trade tariffs.
The yellow metal clocked a series of record highs last week, benefiting from sustained haven buying after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more trade tariffs.
Concerns over a U.S. economic slowdown also fueled gold demand, especially following weak purchasing managers index and consumer sentiment readings on Friday.
A drop in the dollar- on bets that a softer economy will spur more interest rate cuts- benefited broader metal prices.
Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,940.18 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in April were flat at $2,952.97 an ounce by 00:37 ET (05:37 GMT).
Economy, tariff jitters fuel gold demand
Spot gold remained close to a peak of $2,954.97 an ounce hit last week, with haven demand being underpinned by a rout in broader financial markets. Asian stocks slid on Monday, tracking steep losses in Wall Street on Friday.
Risk aversion increased as softer-than-expected U.S. services PMI, coupled with weak readings on consumer sentiment, drummed up concerns that private spending was slowing.
The data came just a week after a softer-than-expected retail sales print for January. This drove increased concerns that private spending- which is a major driver of the world’s biggest economy- was slowing amid pressure from sticky inflation and relatively high interest rates.
This notion added to demand for gold, which was already underpinned by Trump threatening increased trade tariffs on several key sectors, as well as reciprocal tariffs against major U.S. trading partners.
Dollar weakness benefits broader metals
The dollar slipped on expectations of more interest rate cuts to boost the U.S. economy. The dollar index sank 0.3% to a 2-½ month low in Asian trade on Monday, while Treasury yields also clocked steep losses last week.
This benefited other precious metals, although they were a mixed bag on Monday. Platinum futures rose 0.6% to $994.0 an ounce, while silver futures were flat at $32.998 an ounce. Gold has largely outperformed the broader precious metal complex so far in 2025.
Among industrial metals, benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.2% to $9,535.95 a ton, while March copper futures steadied at $4.6170 a pound.
Copper was sitting on a strong melt-up in the past month, taking support from increased optimism over top importer China.
