Faisal Abbas 
3 gold bars in Birmingham, England, December 13, 2023 (Getty)
The ounce of gold touched the threshold of $ 3000 today, Friday, recording a new summit that was not previously seen, while the barrel of oil returned to recovery after previous losses. The rise of strong gold came driven by the state of fog associated with American customs duties and fears of trade tensions, as well as increasing expectations for the reduction of the Federal Reserve (the US Central Bank) its monetary policy.
But the price of the ounce of gold fell slightly in instant transactions by 0.1%, recording $ 2983.78 by 01:32 GMT, after he had recorded a new record at $ 2990.09 earlier in the session, to approach the important 3000 dollar level, according to Reuters data.
Gold is heading today to record a rise for the second week in a row, with gains of 2.5% so far. The price of yellow metal in futures in the United States increased by 0.2% to $ 2996.7.
In this regard, Reuters quoted a market analyst at “IG” Yip John Rong as saying that “the market position reflects the expectations of investors that commercial tensions are likely to worsen before they calm down, and investors again go to gold as a safe haven to hedge from fluctuations.” He continued, “The psychological level has now become 3000 dollars on the horizon for gold prices, and with our approaching the second quarter, where mutual customs duties can lead to another wave of disturbances in the market, gold remains safe and convincing in an environment where the alternatives are rare.”
In the latest escalation of the trade war launched by US President Donald Trump on multiple fronts, the European Union responded to US customs duties on steel and aluminum by imposing a 50% tax on US whiskey exports, which prompted the president to threaten through the “Truth Social” to impose customs duties at 200% on European wine imports and drinks.
It is widely expected that the customs duties imposed by Trump will fuel inflation and economic uncertainty, and has pushed gold to reach multiple levels in 2025. Gold is seen as a way to hedge against political risks and inflation. The markets are now awaiting the monetary policy meeting of the Reserve Council next Wednesday. The central bank is expected to keep the standard interest rate for one night in the range of 4.25 to 4.50%.
As for the rest of the precious metals, silver in instant transactions fell 0.2% to $ 33.72, while platinum rose 0.1% to $ 995.3 and duality 0.7% to 964.32 dollars.
In the petroleum market, oil prices were recovered today, to compensate some of its losses, which exceeded 1% in the previous session, supported by a breakdown of a rapid termination of the war in Ukraine. By 04:06 GMT, Brent crude futures increased 0.7% to $ 70.34 after 1.5% decreased in the previous session. The price of US West Texas Intermediate crude was $ 67.03, an increase of 0.7%, after closing 1.7% yesterday Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Moscow supports in principle the American suggestion of the ceasefire in Ukraine, but he requested clarifications and conditions that seemed to exclude a quick completion of the fighting. “The lukewarm Russian support for a 30 -day ceasefire proposal with Ukraine underestimated the short -term ceasefire,” Reuters quoted IG Tony Cycamore. He added, “There is a feeling that the United States will not lift the sanctions until it agrees to the ceasefire.”
The International Energy Agency warned, on Thursday, that the global supply of oil may exceed the demand by about 600 thousand barrels per day this year, due to the growth led by the United States and the weakest global demand than expected, and said that “the conditions of the total economy that supports our expectations for oil demand deteriorated during the past month with the escalation of trade tensions between the United States and many other countries,” which prompted it to reduce its estimates for the growth growth for the fourth quarter of the year 2024 and the first quarter of the year 2025.
