The yellow metal continued its positive trend by breaking a record high of $2,954 as the market still awaits the trade war, the US dollar weakness and Treasury bond yields.
At 9.40 am, the price of gold was at $2,943.23, up 0.13% since it opened in early trading on Friday in the Asian session.
Gold demand remained driven by uncertainty about the global trade situation. ‘Risk-off’ sentiment triggered a flow of attraction to safe assets such as gold along with the Japanese yen (JPY).
The Federal Reserve (Fed) FOMC meeting minutes on Thursday revealed that Trump’s trade and immigration policies are fueling concerns about inflation.
Therefore, Jerome Powell and his officials agreed to keep rates unchanged at the January meeting as they are still assessing current economic data.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic sees the potential for two rate cuts this year and stressed that the economy remains stable despite the recent inflationary boom.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said the economy was in good shape before the recent bout of aggressive policy and geopolitical uncertainty.
However, it is Trump's broader and higher tariffs that are raising doubts about the Fed's decision-making.
On the data front, US jobs data was softer than expected as the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits came in below estimates.
On Friday, gold traders are eyeing the release of the S&P Global Flash PMI.
