Gold prices hover near fresh records as economic uncertainty grows

Gold prices climbed, hovering near fresh record peaks seen earlier on Monday as safe haven demand was boosted by increasing uncertainty over a U.S. economic slowdown and trade tariffs.
At 3:40 p.m. ET (20:40 GMT), Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,949.59 an ounce after hitting a fresh record of $2,956.26m while gold futures expiring in April were 0.4% at $2,956.26 an ounce
Gold demand is fueled by concerns about the economy and tariffs; inflation data are forthcoming. The yellow metal remained supported by ongoing concerns about tariffs and the U.S. economy following string of data last week including a softer-than-expected U.S. services PMI and weak readings on consumer sentiment.
The U.S. economic picture is set to come under further scrutiny later this week with the release of Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, and the second estimate for fourth quarter gross domestic product, later this week.
Broader metals mostly lower amid dollar lull
On hopes that further reductions in interest rates would help the economy of the United States, the dollar was trading around the flatline. In recent trade, the dollar index remained roughly unchanged. Other precious metals traded mixed on Monday. Silver futures were 0.8% lower at $32.722 an ounce, while platinum futures were down 1.2% to $976.30 an ounce. Gold has largely outperformed the broader precious metal complex so far in 2025.
Among industrial metals, benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.7% to $9,489.95 a ton, while March copper futures fell 1.1% to $4.5635 a pound. Copper was sitting on a strong melt-up in the past month, taking support from increased optimism over top importer China.