Gold prices climbed in Asian trading on Wednesday to scale fresh record highs as steady U.S. inflation data cemented expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year and geopolitical tensions in Iran underpinned safe-haven demand.
Spot gold rose more than 1% to a record high of $4,640.13 an ounce by 01:56 ET (06:56 GMT), surpassing the previous session’s all-time high of $4,634.33/oz.
U.S. Gold Futures for March advanced 1% to $4,643.10/oz.
Unlock exclusive commodity research and analyst commentary with InvestingPro Silver prices outperformed, surging over 4% to a fresh record high of $91.56/oz on Wednesday. Strong industrial demand and safe-haven flows have added momentum to the rally in silver.
Platinum was also upbeat, rising as much as 4% to $2,444.21, nearing record peaks touched last month.
Benign US CPI, Iran unrest boost gold U.S. consumer price index data released on Tuesday came in below expectations. The core CPI rose 0.2% in December and 2.6% year-on-year, below forecasts, reinforcing bets for future rate reductions. Markets now price in roughly two rate cuts in 2026.
"Two Fed rate cuts seem perfectly achievable with the risks skewed towards a third due to the cooling jobs story," ING analysts said in a recent note.
Lower rates tend to benefit non-yielding assets such as bullion by reducing their opportunity cost.
Geopolitical risks also remained firmly in focus. Iran has been gripped by intensifying anti-government protests that have reportedly killed around 2,000 people, raising fears of wider instability in the Middle East.
The unrest has drawn warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump, who warned of possible military action and threatened to impose a 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran.
Trump also urged protesters to escalate pressure on the Iranian leadership, posting on social media that they should “take over your institutions” and that “help is on its way.”
Fed independence worries provide support Further supporting gold were concerns over the independence of the U.S. central bank after the Trump administration opened a criminal investigation involving Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
While the development unsettled investors, central bank chiefs and major bank executives publicly backed Powell, stressing the importance of preserving the Fed’s autonomy amid political pressure.
In other metal markets, benchmark Copper Futures on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.4% to $12,237.20 a ton, while U.S.Copper Futures jumped 1.1% to $6.07 a pound.
Palladium prices climbed as much as 4% to $1,911.23/oz.
