Gold price nears $5,000 as geopolitical worries linger
Gold prices rose and approached $5,000 on Friday morning as geopolitical concerns remained the focus of investors.
Gold futures (GC=F) were up 0.6% to $4,940.20 per ounce at the time of writing, while spot gold was up 0.5% to $4,911.19.
US President Donald Trump’s U-turn on tariff threats against his bid to take over Greenland and talk of a “framework for a future agreement” on the semi-autonomous Danish territory sparked a relief rally in stocks.
Read more: Markets calm after turbulent week in Davos
At the same time, Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE) analysts said in a note on Friday: “There is still focus and caution remains on the exact details of what the framework for Greenland will include.” [on Thursday] He stated that “geopolitical risk has not completely disappeared.”
Attention will turn in this direction Meetings between officials from Ukraine, Russia and the USAIt will be held in Abu Dhabi on Friday. The meeting will be the first trilateral talks since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Oil prices rose Friday morning as Trump’s latest comments on Iran raised concerns about the potential for supply to tighten.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday: The USA has a “navy” It’s heading towards Iran.
The president said the United States was moving its ships toward Iran “in case it wanted to take action.”
“We have a huge fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it,” he said.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “President Trump’s new warnings on Iran have reignited concerns about supply risks at a key OPEC producer and helped prices recover lost ground. The move was strengthened as Saudi Aramco pushed back against fears of a global oil glut, citing strong demand.”
The pound remained steady against the dollar (GBPUSD=X) on Friday morning, trading at $1.3506 at the time of writing, as investors looked at economic data.
Weekly initial unemployment claims in the United States were 200,000 for the week ending Jan. 17, according to data released Thursday. This was below the expected figure of 209,000, according to Deutsche Bank.
Revised US economic growth data, also released on Thursday, showed US gross domestic product (GDP) rose at an annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter. This rate was the initial estimate of 4.3%.
Additionally, the delayed reading of the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator was in line with economists’ expectations. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday released a composite measure of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index for October and November due to the government shutdown; showed that inflation increased by 2.8% on an annual basis.
