Gold prices decreased by 1.50% to around $3,095 amid selling pressure on Thursday. A reciprocal tariff announcement by the US government has impacted various asset classes, leading to a sell-off.
The global base tariff of 10% applies to imports into the US, with some countries, like China, facing higher cumulative tariffs. This announcement has resulted in a decline in equities, a fall in bond yields, and a weakening of the US Dollar.
Asian Producers Benefit From Safe Haven Demand
Asian gold producers have benefited from the increased demand for safe haven assets. The CME FedWatch tool indicates a 21.5% chance of an interest rate cut by May, while June remains the more likely month for such action.
Gold’s technical outlook shows resistance at $3,149 and a fresh all-time high at $3,167. Support levels are noted at $3,111 and $3,089, indicating potential price movements.
Tariffs are customs duties aimed at making local goods more competitive. They differ from taxes in their payment timing and purpose, with varied views on their economic impact. President Trump’s tariff strategy focuses on supporting the US economy through measures affecting key trading partners.
Reading through what’s happened, we find ourselves piecing together a broader picture of how geopolitical decisions have been filtering into asset classes. With the US government opting to implement a general 10% import tariff—one that escalates even further for specific nations like China—it has set off a chain reaction in asset pricing. Equities have fallen back, yields have taken a dip, and the dollar has weakened, likely due to an adjustment in future growth expectations and anticipated capital flow disruptions.
In this situation, gold initially moved up but then slipped back by around 1.5%, settling closer to $3,095. That drop came under clear selling pressure, which is worth tying to rebalanced positions across the board as market participants responded to the tariff headlines. It’s not uncommon to see mechanical sell-offs in an environment where cross-asset correlations temporarily break, especially when macro surprises disrupt usual pricing relationships.
Safe Haven Movements And Yield Reactions
We also see that Asian producers have taken this moment to gain ground. This makes sense. When safe haven demand rises, producers positioned along key refining and export routes often capture more of the available upside. What’s more interesting is what this tells us about flow direction: there’s profit-taking underway, but there’s also region-specific accumulation driven by medium-term uncertainty.
From a rate policy angle, we’re observing pricing around a late-cut scenario. There was a 21.5% implied probability for May, which has already rolled into a consensus for June as the more probable shift in policy. The bond market, which initially saw firm yields, has now started pricing in softer forward guidance. That drop in yields helps support the gold narrative, although this week’s decline in the metal shows that technical friction and headline risk continue to battle for dominance.
The short-term structure for gold now centres around two key support levels—$3,111 and $3,089. Breaks there could invite continued pressure, especially as speculative length is unwound. Still, the resistance zone—$3,149, pushing up towards the $3,167 all-time high—remains within sight, though suspected layered selling could limit rallies in the near term.
As for how we interpret the tariff framework, it is worth remembering that these are not conventional taxes. Their intent is economic positioning rather than revenue generation, aimed in this case at recalibrating trade exposure. There’s a spectrum of views about how much they genuinely protect domestic producers or merely reshuffle costs along supply chains. Still, the current White House approach appears geared towards reinforcing selected industries via external cost barriers.
In the derivatives market, this introduces a definable volatility premium. We see it reflected in skew, we see it in option pricing curves moving disproportionately around Fed announcements and geopolitical events. These forward-looking indicators are telegraphing more activity to come, and suggest repricing plans should be set accordingly—not just against gold, but broader risk exposure that moves with dollar flow and interest rate projections.
What this leaves us with is a window of recalibration. There’s enough direction from official policy to draw justified assumptions about the term structure of rates, but the interplay of technicals and macro won’t allow us to drift. Settings must be checked, ranges adjusted, and positioning measured not just by support lines but by shifts in capital-backed intent.
