Gold Hits 11th Dollar Record of 2025 on Trump's Tariff and Ukraine Attacks
Wednesday, 2/19/2025 16:12
The PRICE of GOLD hit a new all-time high against the US Dollar on Wednesday as global stock markets fell after President Trump said he'll impose 25% trade tariffs on imports of automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors starting April whilst also blaming Ukraine for Russia's all-out invasion, set for its 3rd anniversary just 5 days from now.
"You should have never started it," Trump told Ukraine's President Zelensky via comments to reporters overnight, accusing Zelensky of wasting 3 years without striking a deal which even "a half-baked negotiator could have secured" by ceding territory seized by Moscow's forces.
The Dollar gold price has risen by over $1000 per Troy ounce
since Russia's all-out war on Ukraine extended its 2014 seizure of the Crimea, peaking today above $2946 in London's spot market.
Having set 38 new records across 2024 – matching the global financial crisis peak of 2011 with the most since 1979's all-time surge – the price of gold in US Dollar terms has already set 11 new daily highs so far in 2025 at London's benchmarking auctions.
With bank
analysts rushing to raise their 2025 gold price forecasts, "Gold will definitely reach $3000 per ounce this year," says Sabrin Chowdhury, head of commodity analysis at research consultants BMI.
"At present, our forecast for gold prices this year is an average of $2500 per ounce per year, but we will raise this forecast in the coming weeks."
Four core reasons are driving gold higher, says a note from Chinese derivatives brokers Hualian Futures, part of $1.5 billion asset management group Dongguan Holdings, pointing to increased geopolitical uncertainty, strong demand especially from central banks, resilient US inflation, and the US government's worsening fiscal deficit.
"These four core logics are still there, but may weaken in the future," Hualian cautions.
"Investors should focus on what's affecting the US fiscal deficit, the extent of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts – or even the suspension of more cuts – as well as inflation."
Gold in Euros also set a new London fixing high Wednesday morning, trading at €2823 per Troy ounce with its 13th new record so far this year after setting an all-time record of 45 in 2024.
Gold in terms of the UK Pound in contrast missed a new high today as Sterling rose on the FX market following stronger-than-expected consumer price inflation data for January.
Fixing 0.6% below last Tuesday's 10:30 record, gold in UK Pounds has so far made 15 new highs in 2025 after making a record 40 new highs last year.
With gold in Dollar terms fixing around $2943 this morning, New York's most-active gold futures contract peaked above $2962, widening
the gap between Comex derivatives and London bullion towards $20 per Troy ounce before it retreated again to $17/oz.
Down from a multi-year gap of $50 per ounce, that's still well over 3 times the typical difference, driven by fears that Trump's trade tariffs may extend to bullion, hitting commercial traders who use Comex contracts to hedge the value of inventories held elsewhere in the world.
"With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader," said Ukraine's President Zelensky today, "he is
living in this disinformation space" created by Russia, not least the claim that his personal approval rating is just 4% among Ukrainian voters.
A survey published Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology put Zelensky's rating at 57%, while Trump's own rating in the USA has slipped to 44% according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, also released today.
Silver meantime rose and then eased back alongside the gold price, peaking through $33 per Troy ounce for the 2nd time in 4 sessions before dropping 50 cents as gold dropped $20 from its new record high.
The MSCI World Index lost 0.4% as New York equities slipped at the opening and European bourses fell as much as 1.5% – outpacing the drop in Asian shares – following Trump's latest Ukraine and trade-tariff comments.
Email us
