Gold Prices Jump on Flight to Safety Amid Trade, Global Growth Jitters

New York (July 3)  Gold prices soared on Tuesday as investors sought refuge in safe havens amid growing worries about slowing global growth and expectations for looser monetary policy.

XAU/USD jumped 1.53% to $1,405.49 per ounce, after falling 1.8% on Monday, Gold futures settled up $18.70, or 1.35%, to $1,408 an ounce. Gold has risen nearly 10% this year.U.S. President Donald Trump stoked trade tensions with China, warning that any trade deal would need to be “somewhat tilted” in favor of the United States.

Sentiment on trade took a further knock, propping up support for safe-haven gold after the U.S. government threatened tariffs on $4 billion of additional European Union goods amid a dispute over subsidies made to European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

The uptick in trade tensions appeared to undo some of the overall optimism from a day earlier, when gold prices suffered their biggest one-day plunge since November 2016 after the U.S. and China agreed to call a truce on their months-long trade war.

Analysts said the pullback represented opportunity amid expectations for the yellow metal to remain above $1,400 an ounce for the remainder of the year.

“Pullbacks will have to be bought with the view that we will stay above $1,400 for the rest of the year," said Nicolas Robin, commodities fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investment.

"Obviously $1,500 is on the cards. How much higher we go will depend upon on whether we get some more risk off,” he added.

The yellow metal has also been propped up by expectations for looser monetary policy from central banks, with the Federal Reserve widely expected to cut rates this month.

Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool sees a 100% chance the Fed will cut its federal funds rate from 2.25%-2.5% to 2%-to-2.25% at its July 30-31 meeting. The tool sees a 69% chance of another quarter-point rate cut at its mid-September meeting.

Investing.com