Gold (GC=F)

Gold surged to a fresh all-time high on Monday, driven by investor anxiety over rapidly shifting US trade policy, before paring back gains.

Bullion briefly traded above $3,245 an ounce, surpassing Friday’s previous record. The rally extended a strong run for the precious metal, which rose more than 6% last week, buoyed by ongoing weakness in the dollar.

However, it has since retreated from those peaks and at the time of writing, gold futures were muted at $3,244.70 per ounce, while the spot price slipped 0.3% to $3,231.03 an ounce.

“Gold seems to be the clear beneficiary of the debates raging around the US dollar, and we’ve witnessed the gold price in absolute beast mode,” Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group, said.

Gold’s rally has been underpinned by renewed safe haven demand, as markets contend with a deteriorating outlook for global trade following Donald Trump’s intensification of tariffs on Chinese goods, despite selective exemptions for consumer electronics.

Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks rise amid mixed messages on Trump's electronics tariff reprieve

Goldman Sachs (GS) raised its 2025 gold price forecast to $3,700 per ounce on Sunday, up from $3,300 — the third upward revision by the Wall Street bank this year. The bank cited elevated geopolitical risks and increased demand for hedging against economic downturns. In a more extreme scenario, it said, gold could reach as high as $4,500 per ounce by the end of 2025.

The bank also highlighted bullion’s role as a buffer against rising recession risks in the US.

Pound (GBPUSD=X, GBPEUR=X)

The pound climbed higher on Monday, rising 0.5% to $1.2852 against the dollar, as investors responded to a White House decision to exempt consumer electronics, including smartphones and laptops, from new US tariffs on Chinese imports.

The move was widely interpreted by markets as a de-escalation in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies, providing a reprieve amid fears of a global recession.

The dollar extended its losses, with the dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, losing 0.7% to 99.36, its lowest level since April 2022.

In a separate measure, the US president announced plans to introduce tariffs targeting semiconductors in the coming week, though he signalled flexibility for some companies within the sector.

“We wanted to uncomplicate it from a lot of other companies, because we want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country,” Trump said, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.