The price of gold reached new record highs this Friday, nearing $3,230 per ounce, as trade tensions between the United States and China persist, along with fears of a global recession.
Minutes before 8:30 AM GMT, gold, up 1.61% from yesterday’s close, reached $3,227.50, according to Bloomberg data. For Yahoo Finance, the ceiling continued to rise and surpassed $3,250 after 1:00 PM GMT.
This shattered the overnight record, when it stood at $3,220.08, as well as the two previous highs reached the day before, the last at $3,175.83.
Previously, the last high for the yellow metal had been on April 3, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the imposition of tariffs on nearly all countries worldwide.
After announcing the U.S. decision to suspend tariffs for 90 days, it later clarified that it maintains the rates on China, which total 145%.
In response, China announced this morning it will raise tariffs from 84% to 125% on all products imported from the United States and stated it will now ignore any additional tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Chinese goods.
Since January 1, gold, an asset considered a safe haven in times of uncertainty, has seen its value increase by over 22%, following a first quarter that closed as the best start to a year since 1974.
Unstable markets
Meanwhile, European stock markets are trading with volatility this Friday. At 11:45 AM GMT, London is up 0.71%, Frankfurt is down 0.99%, and Paris has lost 0.21% after all had opened extending gains from the previous day.
For its part, Wall Street showed red numbers after the opening but soon turned green, following constant ups and downs in the previous hours that are expected to continue throughout Friday. By 2:00 PM GMT, the S&P 500 was trading up 0.44%, the Dow Jones up 0.36%, and the Nasdaq up 0.66%. Oil is down just 0.1% at $60 per barrel.
The main index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei, opened down over 5% as investors opted to take profits after a more than 9% rise in the previous session due to the tariff truce, but it managed to soften the decline and closed down 2.96% or 1,023.42 points, at 33,585.58.
Key stocks on the Japanese market, such as vehicle manufacturer Toyota and technology and entertainment multinational Sony, depreciated by 4.83% and 7.04%, respectively.
In South Korea, the benchmark of the Seoul Stock Exchange, the Kospi, lost 0.5% or 12.34 points and stood at 2,432.72, after opening with a 2% decline.
Image: Infobae
