- Gold price sees a near 5% correction after hitting a new all-time high at $3,500 on Tuesday.
- US President Trump rebukes earlier statements and hints lower tariffs for China, confirms Fed’s Powell as head until end of its term.
- Markets buy into the turnaround, with equities and bonds higher, safe haven Gold punished.
Gold price (XAU/USD) is undergoing some profit-taking and sees selling pressure on Wednesday towards $3,300 at the time of writing. The profit taking picked up on comments from United States (US) President Donald Trump, who did a 180-degree turn on his stance on China and the Federal Reserve (Fed). After the closing bell, Tesla’s (TSLA) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said he will reduce his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
President Trump rebuked earlier statements in which he was seeking to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell to say now that he has no intention to fire him despite his frustration with the Fed not moving more quickly with the interest rate cuts, the Wall Street Journal reported. The president went on to say that he will be “very nice” to China in any trade talks and that tariffs will drop if the two countries can reach a deal. Final tariffs on China would not be near 145%, but much lower, he said, Bloomberg reports.
Daily digest market movers: Despite the correction still buying
- Gold has dipped in relation to Bitcoin this week, but its long-term trend of outperformance is expected to extend on demand for its safe-haven qualities. Investors will be expecting more sound bites from US leaders, which will muddy the outlook in the days ahead, Bloomberg reports.
- Central banks will keep buying Gold in a push to diversify from paper currencies amid the current political and economic upheaval, according to billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson, Reuters reports.
- “Gold’s tactically very overbought and extended – it’s risen $500 plus in 8 trading days, so naturally there’s likely a mix of a buyers’ pause and some risk reduction,” said Nicky Shiels, head of research and metals strategy at MKS Pamp SA, Bloomberg reports.
Gold Price Technical Analysis: A long way to go for a deal
The precious metal sees its Relative Strength Index (RSI) come back in the normal trading range after having spent several days in the overbought area. Some more profit taking would make sense given the softer rhetoric from President Trump. Currently at around 63, it would make sense for the RSI to fall back to 50 with the Gold price probably looking for support near $3,167, the pivotal level from early April.
The daily Pivot Point on the upside at $3,415 is the first level of resistance, which is quite far away and would mean Gold reverses in full and even turns positive on the day. Such a move would push the RSI back into overbought territory. Further up, the next resistance comes in at $3,464.
On the downside, the first support is at $3,331, which already broke in early trading. Look at least for a test on the S2 at $3,282, which coincides with the April 17 low. Below, the pivotal level from early April should catch the traders’ attention as well at $3,167.
XAU/USD: Daily Chart
US-China Trade War FAQs
Generally speaking, a trade war is an economic conflict between two or more countries due to extreme protectionism on one end. It implies the creation of trade barriers, such as tariffs, which result in counter-barriers, escalating import costs, and hence the cost of living.
An economic conflict between the United States (US) and China began early in 2018, when President Donald Trump set trade barriers on China, claiming unfair commercial practices and intellectual property theft from the Asian giant. China took retaliatory action, imposing tariffs on multiple US goods, such as automobiles and soybeans. Tensions escalated until the two countries signed the US-China Phase One trade deal in January 2020. The agreement required structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime and pretended to restore stability and trust between the two nations. However, the Coronavirus pandemic took the focus out of the conflict. Yet, it is worth mentioning that President Joe Biden, who took office after Trump, kept tariffs in place and even added some additional levies.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House as the 47th US President has sparked a fresh wave of tensions between the two countries. During the 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to impose 60% tariffs on China once he returned to office, which he did on January 20, 2025. With Trump back, the US-China trade war is meant to resume where it was left, with tit-for-tat policies affecting the global economic landscape amid disruptions in global supply chains, resulting in a reduction in spending, particularly investment, and directly feeding into the Consumer Price Index inflation.
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