Vicky McKeever writes:
Gold prices edged higher on Friday morning, as renewed concerns about US president Donald Trump's trade tariffs spurred demand for the precious metal as a safe-haven asset.
Gold futures (GC=F) were up 0.2% at $3,347.80 an ounce at the time of writing, while the spot gold price climbed 0.4% to $3,338.89 per ounce.
The latest rise in gold prices came after Trump said he was going to start sending letters to countries on Friday to tell them what their tariff rates would be, adding that they would have to start paying the duties on 1 August.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that by his 9 July tariff deal extension deadline “they’ll be fully covered and they’ll range in value from maybe 60 or 70% tariffs to 10 and 20% tariffs”.
The top end of that tariff range would be higher than the rates Trump initially announced on so-called “Liberation Day” on 2 April.
Jim Reid, market strategist at Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE), said that the “difference in that range would have significant economic implications for the various countries”.
European stock markets opened lower following the news, while Wall Street was closed on Friday for the 4 July holiday.
Investors were also weighing the impact of Trump's “big, beautiful bill” in adding to US debt, with the president due to sign it into law on Friday, after the House of Representatives passed the legislation on Thursday.
Reid said: “Note that the $5tn ($3.7tn) debt ceiling increase included in the bill, probably takes that off the table for around 2.5 years given the current run rate of deficits.
“Without the increase we’d probably have run up against the existing debt ceiling around mid-August. So one less thing to worry about in the near term, even if the bigger picture on debt just got more worrying.”
