Gold lost more ground on Friday, putting the precious metal on course for its sharpest weekly slide in almost two months as traders hesitated before a key US inflation reading. At the same time, oil prices edged lower for the second consecutive week as traders braced for another OPEC+ output hike.
The price of Gold Aug 25 (GC=F) dropped up to 0.8% during morning trade and headed for a weekly fall of nearly 2%. Investors are waiting for the US personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Fed’s primary inflation metric, due later in the day
Kelvin Wong, senior analyst at Oanda Asia Pacific Pte, said that the current sell-off was due to technical factors ahead of the metrics release. “The price action in gold has twice failed to break above the key near-term resistance level of $3,328 — both in the U.S. session yesterday and again early in the Asian session today,” he noted.
Gold is still considered a safe haven amid market uncertainties
Markets have been unsettled once again after a federal appeals court on Thursday granted Trump a temporary reprieve from a decision that had threatened to remove much of his planned tariffs.
Tensions with China have also resurfaced. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described talks with Beijing as “a bit stalled.” Earlier in the week, the White House said it would start cancelling some Chinese student visas and curb sales of chip-design software to Chinese firms, prompting a swift protest from Beijing.
Such uncertainty in the market is likely to keep some interest in the bullion. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also said that gold would remain a part of the firm’s long-term portfolios as a defense against rising prices, alongside crude oil.
By 1:40 p.m. in Singapore, spot gold had trimmed losses but was still down 0.5% at $3,300 an ounce. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index inched higher after swinging the previous day. Other precious metals, including silver (SI=F), palladium (PA=F), and platinum (PL=F), all slipped lower.
Crude oil prices decline for the second consecutive week
Brent crude futures declined 21 cents (0.33%) to $63.94 a barrel by 06:26 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 22 cents (0.36%) to $60.72. Both contracts have dropped about 1.3% since Monday, and the Brent July futures contract is due to expire on Friday.
Much of the pressure came from expectations that OPEC+ and its partners would approve another output hike on Saturday during a meeting.
Analysts at JPMorgan said the global surplus has increased to roughly 2.2 million barrels per day, a gap that may force prices lower, in order to restore balance. The analysts predict crude will trade near current levels before easing into the high $50s by the end of the year.
Supply worries were compounded after Trump’s broad tariffs were reinstated on Thursday, overturning a lower-court order issued a day earlier. Crude, which is often considered a safe haven alongside gold, has now fallen more than 10% since Trump rolled out his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2.
At the same time, tensions deepened further after Washington told a wide range of companies to halt shipments of goods such as ethane and butane to China without a license, and revoked existing permits for some suppliers.
Even so, JPMorgan noted that global demand ticked up last week thanks to strong U.S. travel over the Memorial Day holiday. The bank estimates monthly demand growth at about 400,000 barrels per day as of May 28, roughly 250,000 barrels below earlier projections.
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