(March 27): Gold advanced on Friday after US President Donald Trump again pushed back his deadline for securing a deal with Iran to end the war in the Middle East.
Bullion rose as much as 2.3% to top US$4,475 ($5,756.84) an ounce, having fallen almost 3% in the previous session as doubts grew over a potential ceasefire agreement. Trump pledged to refrain from attacks on Iranian energy sites for a further 10 days, offering a brief respite to markets jolted by nearly a month of conflict. Equities extended gains and oil prices steadied.
Since the war began nearly a month ago, gold has fallen about 15%, moving largely in tandem with stocks and in an inverse relationship with oil. Spiking energy prices have raised the risk of inflation and led investors to bet that central banks will keep interest rates unchanged, or hike them. That’s a headwind for non-yielding bullion.
Adding further downward pressure, Türkiye’s central bank sold and swapped about 60 tons of gold worth more than US$8 billion during the first two weeks of the war, marking a sharp drawdown in reserves, according to people familiar with the matter. Elevated central-bank buying had been a pillar of bullion’s rally over the last couple of years.
Spot gold was 1.9% higher at US$4,460.16 at 2.22pm Singapore time on Friday. Silver advanced 2.5% to US$69.76. Platinum and palladium also gained. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% after ending the previous session up 0.4%.
See also: MAS and SBMA leading new working group to develop Singapore as a regional gold trading centre
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
