FX.co ★ Gold Climbs to Fresh High

Gold prices surged to approximately $4,180 per ounce on Wednesday, furthering their strong upward momentum and reaching a new all-time high. Investors increasingly turned to gold for its perceived safety and boosted expectations of further monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve. Amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and China, President Donald Trump accused China of engaging in "economically hostile" actions by suspending imports of soybeans and cautioned about potential countermeasures, such as a cooking oil embargo. These comments followed China's recent warnings of additional retaliations after it imposed sanctions on five US subsidiaries of the South Korean shipbuilder, Hanwha Ocean. Adding to the general market unease was the ongoing US government shutdown, which a US official noted is starting to impact the economy. Furthermore, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, addressing the NABE annual meeting, cautioned that the considerable slowdown in job creation poses an increasing threat to the US economy, suggesting the possibility of two additional interest rate cuts this year.