(RTTNews) – Gold rose slightly on Friday as oil prices slipped below $100 a barrel from recent highs and the US dollar remained weak despite rising bond yields on inflation concerns.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its meeting next week, but Fed funds futures show a nearly 82 percent chance the central bank will raise borrowing costs at its September policy meeting.
Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $4,055.29 an ounce, after falling nearly 2 percent in the previous session, as rising oil prices raised concerns over energy-driven inflation. US gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $4,057.60.
Long-term bond yields hit their highest level in decades amid Middle East concerns and fears over new US tariffs imposed on 60 trading partners in the latest escalation in a trade war reignited by US President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration said 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 will affect major economies like the EU, Britain, China, India, Japan and Canada. These measures replace a temporary 10 percent global tariff that expires today.
On the geopolitical front, the United States launched strikes on Iranian targets for the 13th consecutive night, following which Tehran launched missile attacks targeting neighboring Arab countries hosting US military bases.
Iran said it targeted US military bases in Kuwait as well as US missile systems, weapons depots and fuel storage facilities in Jordan.
US President Trump threatened both Iran and Yemen’s Houthi rebels with “major military punishment” after the Houthis launched missile and drone attacks 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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