Gold climbs after Trump agrees to two-week ceasefire in Iran

[SINGAPORE] Gold rose after US President Donald Trump said that he had agreed to a two-week extension to finalise talks on ending the war in Iran.

Bullion climbed as much as 1.6 per cent to near US$4,780 an ounce, extending a 1.2 per cent gain in the previous session. Trump said that he had agreed to suspend bombing, less than two hours before his self-imposed deadline to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilisation”.

Oil slumped and the US dollar fell, supporting gold.

Now in its sixth week, the war in the Middle East has driven a spike in energy prices and raised inflationary risks, making it more likely that central banks will delay cutting interest rates or even hike them. Bond traders expect the US Federal Reserve to keep borrowing costs steady through the rest of the year, which would be a headwind for non-yielding gold.

Gold has fallen almost 10 per cent since the conflict began at the end of February, with the metal’s traditional haven appeal also weakened by the need for some investors to liquidate positions to cover losses elsewhere.

Spot gold rose 1.4 per cent to US$4,770.50 an ounce as at 6.46 am in Singapore. Silver gained 2.6 per cent to US$74.90. Platinum and palladium also advanced. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the US currency, fell 0.3 per cent. BLOOMBERG