Gold eases after Trump downplays clash with Fed chair Powell

[NEW YORK] Gold extended a decline on Friday (Jul 25) as the US dollar rose after President Donald Trump downplayed his clash with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, easing concerns around the central bank’s independence.

Bullion traded near US$3,341 an ounce, while a gauge of the greenback rose 0.3 per cent. Trump maintained on Thursday that there was “no tension” with the Fed chief and indicated that problems with renovations of the Fed headquarters probably were not reason enough to fire the central bank head. A stronger greenback makes gold more expensive for many buyers.

Gold was further hit by a jobs data on Thursday which showed applications for US unemployment benefits fell for a sixth straight week – the longest stretch of declines since 2022. Treasury yields rose, weighing on non-interest bearing gold, as swap traders pared bets on Fed rate cuts. Less than two reductions are now projected this year, with the first full cut expected in October.

Gold is up more than 27 per cent this year, as uncertainty around Trump’s aggressive attempts to reshape global trade and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East sparked a flight into havens. Still, the precious metal has been trading within a tight range over the past few months after spiking to an all-time high above US$3,500 an ounce in April, with investors growing more confident about risk assets in recent weeks following progress in US trade negotiations.

Spot gold was down 0.8 per cent to US$3,341.53 an ounce at 12:19 pm in London, with prices down 0.2 per cent so far this week. The Bloomberg US dollar Spot Index added 0.4 per cent. Silver, platinum and palladium all fell. BLOOMBERG