Gold prices slipped in Asian trading on Tuesday, as investors engaged in profit-taking after a sharp rally driven by intensifying geopolitical tensions and persistent trade worries.
The precious metal had kicked off June with strong gains following a deadly Ukrainian drone strike on Russia, which undermined earlier peace negotiations. Moscow’s reluctance to commit to a lasting ceasefire also weighed on sentiment.
Meanwhile, nuclear discussions between the U.S. and Iran appeared to falter after President Donald Trump stated Iran would not be allowed to enrich uranium. Monday’s sharp rally in gold was further supported by market anxiety over elevated U.S. tariffs and deteriorating relations with China, which drove safe-haven buying.
By 00:32 ET (04:32 GMT), spot gold was down 0.6% at $3,361.24 per ounce, and August gold futures declined 0.4% to $3,384.92 per ounce, after a more than 2% surge the previous day.
Gold slips on profit-taking and firmer dollar
Gold and other metals came under pressure from near-term profit booking and a mild recovery in the U.S. dollar, which had recently hit a six-week low.
Despite Tuesday’s dip, gold retained most of its recent gains, with continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the potential collapse of U.S.-Iran talks maintaining elevated geopolitical risk. Tensions in the Middle East remain high, especially amid reports suggesting Israel could act militarily if diplomacy fails.
Ongoing concerns over the economic fallout from U.S. trade tariffs also kept demand for gold elevated, alongside recent turbulence in the bond market.
U.S. Treasuries and the dollar had faced downward pressure amid concerns over America’s growing debt load. Market attention remained focused on a controversial Trump-backed tax cut bill that recently advanced in Congress. However, the dollar edged up slightly on Tuesday, weighing on metals. Platinum futures dipped 0.3% to $1,061.20, and silver futures dropped 1.1% to $34.323 per ounce.
Copper weakens as Chinese manufacturing falters
In industrial metals, copper prices fell following disappointing manufacturing data from China, the world’s largest copper consumer.
London Metal Exchange benchmark copper slipped 0.5% to $9,550.20 a ton, while U.S. copper futures tumbled 2.5% to $4.7345 per pound.
The latest Caixin PMI showed a deeper-than-expected contraction in China’s manufacturing activity for May, echoing similar weakness in recent government figures. These results highlighted the toll the U.S.-China trade conflict continues to take on China’s economy and raised fresh concerns over declining copper demand.
