Safe-haven demand lifts gold to 3-week peak; silver nears 14-year high

Gold rose to a three-week high, boosted by safe-haven demand after US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on the European Union and Mexico

Gold rose to a three-week high on Monday, boosted by safe-haven demand after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on the European Union and Mexico, while silver hit a near 14-year peak.

Spot gold was up 0.4 per cent at $3,367.51 per ounce, as of 0957 GMT, after hitting its highest level since June 23 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures rose 0.5 per cent to $3,379.30.

Trump said on Saturday he would impose a 30 per cent tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico from August 1, adding to similar warnings for other countries.

Both the European Union and Mexico described the tariffs as unfair and disruptive, while the EU said it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement.

 

"Trump tariffs threats are supporting demand for safe haven assets, and gold is a main beneficiary of that," said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

On the data front, traders await U.S. consumer price index data and the producer price index this week for cues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.

Investors are currently anticipating 50 basis points worth of Fed rate cuts by the end of this year, starting in October. Gold tends to thrive in a low-rate environment.

Meanwhile, Indian investors, traditionally obsessed with stockpiling gold, are increasingly turning to silver, as its returns this year outpaced those of gold.

Spot silver was up 1.7 per cent at $39.02 per ounce, after hitting its highest level since September 2011 earlier in the session.

The silver rally "is driven by speculative flows, with the metal moving above technical resistance levels," Staunovo said.

ANZ, in a note, said that silver breaking the $35-$37 range could potentially trigger new technical buying and drive prices toward $40.

Platinum was down 1.2 per cent at $1,382.72. Palladium gained 1.3 per cent to $1,230.87, the highest since late October 2024.