Gold surges 3.5% and breaches fresh record highs
Gold prices rallied on Thursday as the dollar tumbled against most major rivals, with the precious metal scaling fresh record highs following US inflation data, which showed prices slowed down more than expected last month.
US President Donald Trump escalated the devastating trade war with China by announcing 125% tariffs on Chinese products.
The tariffs will be immediate and are a response to China's disrespect to global markets as Trump described it.
Simultaneously, Trump announced a 90-day hold on tariffs for most other countries .
The Chinese government announced fresh retaliatory 84% tariffs on US products, deepening the trade war.
Investors are still concerned about the trade escalation between the US and China in particular, and from any potential recession due to the trade war, in turn impacting demand.
Earlier US data showed consumer prices rose 2.4% y/y in March, below estimates of a 2.5% rise, and down from 2.8% in February.
Core prices, excluding food and energy, rose 2.8%, below estimates of 3.0%.
Otherwise, the dollar index fell 1.9% as of 15:40 GMT to 100.9, with a session-high at 103.03, and a low at 100.9.
On trading, gold spot prices fell 3.9%, or $112.5 as of 15:41 GMT to $3191.5 an ounce.
Wall Street returns lower, NASDAQ gives up 3%
US stock indices tumbled on Thursday once more as investors consider US President Donald Trump’s decision to pause tariffs on most countries as not enough, amid escalation with the world’s second biggest economy, China.
US President Donald Trump escalated the devastating trade war with China by announcing 125% tariffs on Chinese products.
The tariffs will be immediate and are a response to China's disrespect to global markets as Trump described it.
Simultaneously, Trump announced a 90-day hold on tariffs for most other countries .
The Chinese government announced fresh retaliatory 84% tariffs on US products, deepening the trade war.
Investors are still concerned about the trade escalation between the US and China in particular, and from any potential recession due to the trade war, in turn impacting demand.
Earlier US data showed consumer prices rose 2.4% y/y in March, below estimates of a 2.5% rise, and down from 2.8% in February.
Core prices, excluding food and energy, rose 2.8%, below estimates of 3.0%.
On trading, Dow Jones tumbled 2%, or 817 points to 39,795 points, while S&P 500 gave up 2.5%, or 135 points to 5321 points, as NASDAQ slid 3%, or 515 points to 16,609 points.
Bitcoin stalls after huge daily jump
Bitcoin tumbled on Thursday after marking its biggest daily profit in five weeks yesterday, with the price gathering momentum around the $80,000 barrier.
Now global financial markets await important US inflation data for March, which could provide fresh pricing on the odds of a Fed May rate cut.
The Price
Bitcoin fell 1.6% at Bitstamp today to $81,300, with a session-high at $82,722.
On Wednesday, bitcoin added 8.3%, marking the biggest profit since March 2, as markets welcomed Trump’s decision to pause tariffs on most countries for 90 days.
Crypto Market Value
The market value of cryptocurrencies fell by $55 billion on Thursday to a total of $2.680 trillion.
US Rates
The recently released Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes showed all members unanimously voted in favor of maintaining interest rates unchanged in March.
The minutes showed concerns about weaker growth due to higher tariffs, but increased spending in some economies reduced such concerns
According to the Fedwatch tool, the odds of a May interest rate cut stood at 15%.