Investing.com-- Gold prices steadied Tuesday, as traders digested the latest US inflation data as well as a report on President-elect Donald Trump’s planned trade tariffs.
At 09:15 ET (14:15 GMT), spot gold traded largely flat at $2,663.35 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in February fell 0.1% to $2,676.44 an ounce.
US inflation data in focus
US producer prices rose at a slower-than-anticipated rate in December, increasing by 0.2% on a month-on-month basis, below the 0.4% pace seen in November.
Compared to a year earlier, the PPI ticked up by 3.3%, accelerating from 3.0% in the prior month but cooler than estimates of 3.5%.
This data suggested a possible easing in inflationary pressures, which when added to Wednesday's consumer price index, is likely to factor into how the Federal Reserve approaches future interest rate decisions.
Sticky inflation and strength in the labor market could provide the Federal Reserve more headroom to keep interest rates high - a trend that bodes poorly for non-yielding assets such as gold and other metals.
Trump trade tariffs could be gradual, report says
Trump’s team is preparing a plan for a gradual imposition of trade tariffs in the coming months, Bloomberg reported on Monday, although it was unclear whether the President-elect will follow through on the plan.
The plan will involve tariff increases of between 2% to 5% every month, and will give Washington more leverage in trade negotiations, while also preventing a sudden spike in inflation due to the duties.
Concerns over Trump’s tariffs had driven some safe haven demand for gold, especially as he prepares to take office on January 20.
But this was largely offset by concerns that the tariffs will also factor into higher inflation, keeping interest rates underpinned for longer.
Trump has vowed to impose steep import tariffs from “day one” of his presidency, with a promised 60% duty on China being the biggest point of concern.
Among other precious metals, platinum futures rose 1.9% to $956.30 an ounce, while silver futures slipped 0.1% to $30.265 an ounce.
Gold could hit another record in 2025
Gold prices could tick up to another record high in 2025 as investors hunt for safe havens in response to likely "bouts of equity market volatility", according to analysts at UBS.
The yellow metal surged by 27% in 2024, touching an all-time high of $2,788 per ounce in October and setting a record annual average price of $2,389 per ounce.
Despite a sell-off following a rush into riskier assets following Trump's US election victory, it was still gold's strongest yearly gain since 2020.
Copper looks to China for guidance
Among industrial metals, copper prices traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday, with traders looking for signs of bumper stimulus measures from Beijing.
Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3% to $9,118.0 a ton, while March copper futures fell 0.2% to $4.3135 a pound.
Copper had been buoyed by data this week showing continued resilience in China’s imports of the red metal, which hit a 13-month high in December.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)