The LBMA has reported that the LBMA London Gold Price has set a new record in its morning session, hitting USD3120.20.
Adrian Ash, Director of Research, BullionVault, says: “Already the best-performing asset bar none of the 21st Century to date, gold is surging as Trump 2.0 turns what was left of the Western-led world order on its head.
“Trump’s tariff chaos in particular is proving the perfect backdrop for new record gold prices. The precious metal thrives on geopolitical uncertainty, economic stagflation and falling stock markets, and Trump is delivering all three.”
Wednesday’s ‘Liberation Day’ has also driven the price of gold up while US stocks have fallen back, says Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com
Commenting on last week’s news, Sabin Hathorn wrote: “US equities faced another wave of selling last week, while gold (XAU/USD) surged to a new all-time high as investor confidence deteriorated. The trigger? A stronger-than-expected reading in the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, which climbed to 2.8 per cent year-over-year in February—up from 2.7 per cent in January and well above the expected 2.6 per cent.”
BullionVault writes that gold is heading for a 13.6 per cent rise in Q1, marking the sharpest quarterly rise since David Cameron called the Brexit referendum in Q1 2016 (20.4 per cent) and greater even than that Spring’s actual referendum shock (14.2 per cent).
The precious metal has fallen only three times in Q1 in 10 years (2018, 2019, 2021). If gold was to achieve a 13.6 per cent rise in Q1, this would top the level achieved in the first quarter of 2020 during the Covid crisis (12.5 per cent).
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown, writes: “Gold has been on another glittering run upwards as investors seek out safe havens for their money.
“The spike in prices to fresh record levels comes as the world braces for another round of US tariffs, and geopolitical uncertainty swirls. The price of gold has also been helped by buying from central banks, particularly by China.
“Part of the appeal of gold is as a hedge against inflation, which is staying stubborn in some economies amid concerns US trade policy could push up consumer prices further. There are also ongoing concerns that governments across the world have piled up high levels of debt, which is associated with a rise in long-term inflationary expectations.”
Trackinsight reports that global gold ETPs, excluding inverse and leveraged, saw performance of 7.5 per cent over March.