Bullion for immediate delivery, which has touched repeated record highs in recent weeks, fell as much as 1.3%, while copper futures dropped by as much as 8.5%. That follows a metals-to-oil rout that saw the Bloomberg Commodity Index tumble 5.8% in its worst week since 2022.
US copper prices had been surging as traders warned that threatened tariffs on the metal would squeeze global supplies. Now, collapsing equity markets, further punitive tariffs across a swathe of countries and retaliatory measures from China have prompted much larger fears around global demand. Friday’s selloff on the London Metal Exchange was the biggest since March 2020.
While gold typically benefits from periods of upheaval — and remains about 15% higher this year — it can be sold during extreme market dislocation as investors seek to cover losses elsewhere.
At 6:45 a.m. in Singapore, US copper was trading down more than 5% at $4.1785 per pound. Gold was down 0.7% at $3,015.85 per troy ounce.
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First Published: Apr 7, 2025 4:27 AM IST