(RTTNews) – Gold edged up slightly on Friday as oil prices slipped from recent highs above $100 a barrel and the U.S. dollar remained weak despite rising bond yields on inflation concerns.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave rates unchanged when it meets next week, but Fed funds futures suggest a roughly 82 percent likelihood that the central bank lifts borrowing costs at its September policy meeting.
Spot gold inched up 0.1 percent to $4,055.29 an ounce after falling nearly 2 percent in the previous session as surging oil prices fueled concerns over energy-driven inflation. U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $4,057.60.
Long-dated bond yields hovered around multi-decade highs amid renewed Middle East worries and fears over fresh U.S. tariffs imposed on 60 trading partners in the latest escalation in the trade war reignited by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration said that it would impose higher tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners, citing forced labor concerns.
The tariffs, ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent, would impact major economies like the European Union, U.K., China, India, Japan and Canada. The measures replace a temporary 10 percent global tariff that expires today.
On the geopolitical front, the United States launched its 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iranian targets, prompting Tehran to retaliate with missile attacks targeting neighboring Arab countries hosting U.S. military bases.
Iran said it targeted U.S. missile systems, weapons depots and fuel storage facilities in Jordan, along with American military positions in Kuwait.
U.S. President Trump threatened both Iran and Yemen’s Houthi rebels with “major military punishment” after Houthis launched missile and drone strikes on oil tankers in the Red Sea to enforce a blockade on Saudi Arabia.
Trump threatened to launch a “massive attack” on Iran that could be “bigger than ever before.”
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