Gold tops record $5,000 mark on Trump policy uncertainty

The price of safe-haven asset gold surpassed $5,000 on Sunday (25 January), hitting a record amid rising global uncertainty and turmoil set off by US President Donald Trump's policies.

Gold reached $5,026 an ounce in trading after sister metal silver blasted through $102 an ounce for the first time on Friday.

While turbulence over Trump's ambitions for Greenland and pressure on the Federal Reserve have provided the most recent support for gold, the precious metal has for two years achieved all-time peaks on factors ranging from a weak dollar, strong central bank demand and elevated inflation.

Gold stood at just above $2,000 an ounce in January 2024.

The precious metal's price has also risen due to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as Washington's intervention in Venezuela.

"Over the past few days, gold's price action has been textbook safe-haven behaviour," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com.

"Underlying demand for protection is still there. Confidence in the dollar and bonds looks a bit shaky."

'Slow-burning support'

Trump backed away last week from threatened tariffs on several European nations because of their opposition to Washington seizing the mineral-rich Arctic island of Greenland.

But his comments set off a bruising transatlantic crisis, reviving trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment.

The dollar plunged to a four-month low against the euro while gold prices surged.

"Gold pressed on to a fresh record high as geopolitical tensions remain elevated," Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, noted Friday.

"The extreme tail risk of a US military intervention in Greenland was never being priced by markets. Worries about an escalatory trade war were."

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited Greenland's capital on Friday for talks with the territory's leader.

Investors were additionally preparing for this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting, which comes after US prosecutors took aim at its boss Jerome Powell, raising fears over the bank's independence.

Trump has made no secret of his disdain for Powell, claiming there is "no inflation" and repeatedly questioning the Fed chair's competence and integrity.

The heads of major central banks threw their support behind the Fed and Powell last week, after US prosecutors issued subpoenas against him that threaten a criminal indictment.

"Add in lingering doubts around central bank independence and you are left with a slow-burning support base for gold," said independent analyst Stephen Innes.

Gold demand by value surged 44% year-on-year to a record $146 billion in the third quarter of last year, the World Gold Council has said in its latest report.

There has been strong demand for gold also via Exchange-Traded Funds on stock markets. ETFs allow investment without trading on the gold futures market.