Safe-haven gold slips as trade optimism lifts risk appetite
Spot gold was down 0.8% at $3,362.35 per ounce, by 9:41 a.m. ET (1340 GMT). U.S. gold futures dropped 0.9% to $3,367.40.
The market is optimistic about trade deals — first with the U.S. and Japan, and now possibly the EU, said Aakash Doshi of State Street Investment Management, adding that strong equities and low volatility have weighed on gold's upside.
The U.S. and European Union were making progress toward a trade deal that may include a 15% baseline U.S. tariff on EU goods, with potential exemptions. The move comes shortly after Washington unveiled a separate agreement with Japan.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump's unexpected visit to the Federal Reserve added a layer of uncertainty to the policy outlook. The White House confirmed the visit, which comes amid Trump's repeated criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates more aggressively.
"Any potential interference with Fed independence is supportive for gold over the medium to long term," Doshi said.
The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its July 29–30 meeting, but markets continue to price in a potential rate cut in September.
A safe-haven asset during times of economic uncertainties, gold also tends to do well in a low-interest rate environment.
On the data front, U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week, signalling a steady labour market despite sluggish hiring making it harder for the unemployed to find work.
Spot silver slipped 1% to $38.87 per ounce, palladium dropped 2.2% to $1,247.68 and platinum fell 0.8% to $1,400.18.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Home sales crater to 13-year low... and realtors warn the next step is every American's worst fear
America's spring homebuying season just hit its weakest point in over a decade — marking the slowest market since 2012 and sparking fears that a full-blown price collapse could be next. Spring is traditionally the hottest time for pending home sales but that's no longer the case in the in the now struggling US housing market. In 2025, April through June brought the lowest sales in 13 years, according to Redfin. The once-reliable season fizzled as sky-high mortgage rates, stubbornly elevated prices, and growing economic uncertainty pushed buyers to the sidelines. 'People say price solves everything,' Atlanta real estate veteran Glennda Baker told Bloomberg. 'But price doesn't solve uncertainty.' She currently has 21 listings — a personal high — is now urging clients to slash prices to sell. Earlier in the year, analysts hoped the market might rebound as mortgage rates dipped slightly and listing prices softened. But that flicker of optimism has faded. Hesitant buyers, mounting price cuts, and frustrated sellers have left what agents are now calling a 'paralyzed' market — one that, realtors warn, may only revive if sellers start slashing prices in earnest. 'We thought we hit rock bottom but we keep discovering there's more rock bottom to be had,' said Chen Zhao, head of economics research at Redfin. Redfin's findings confirm what brokers across the country already know. Lack of showings, showings, weak offers, and growing desperation among sellers is not helping the market. Some sellers are pulling homes off the market entirely — de-listing their properties because they won't get asking price. Experts predict it's not going to get batter any time soon. 'The outlook for the housing market is dire,' said Thomas Ryan of Capital Economics. 'Affordability is at its worst since the 1980s. Nothing has changed on that front.' The market is playing out differently across the country, though. In the Northeast and Midwest, the scarcity of listings is still keeping home prices high. But in Sun Belt metros like Florida, Texas and Nevada, inventory keeps piling up and sales are plunging. Chen Zhao, the head of economics research for Redfin, says 'more rock bottom to be had' In Las Vegas, active listings have soared more than 38 percent year-over-year, while sales have dropped 15 percent, Redfin reported. 'The fear of missing out has shifted from buyers to sellers,' said Angela O'Hare, a Las Vegas-based agent. 'Sellers who need to sell will make it happen. I had a listing at $950,000. I cut it down to $799,000 and had three offers.' Some luxury enclaves like Narragansett, RI, are starting to show signs of uncertainty. 'We're seeing a lot more price decreases throughout Rhode Island now,' said Johnny Sheil, of Mott & Chace Sotheby's International Realty. 'Uncertainty scares some people.' Experts also warn there's little chance of a dramatic turnaround for the remainder of the summer. Meanwhile, the surplus of homes is so bad in some US metros that it's become a sellers worst nightmare. In one instance, Cape Coral, Florida, has become a place people are desperately trying to escape, with for sale signs popping up on lawns all over town. But no one will touch their properties. Open houses are empty, foreclosure 'boat tours' take locals around to see homes that the bank has repossessed, and half-built homes are left to rot. 'It is one of the worst real estate markets for a seller right now,' local realtor José Echevarria told the Daily Mail. Prices in Cape Coral have been slashed for more than 50 percent of homes over the past two years - more than any other major metro area in the US, he added.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Big tech has spent $155bn on AI this year. It's about to spend hundreds of billions more
The US's largest companies have spent 2025 locked in a competition to spend more money than one another, lavishing $155bn on the development of artificial intelligence, more than the US government has spent on education, training, employment and social services in the 2025 fiscal year so far. Based on the most recent financial disclosures of Silicon Valley's biggest players, the race is about to accelerate to hundreds of billions in a single year. Over the past two weeks, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet, Google's parent, have shared their quarterly public financial reports. Each disclosed that their year-to-date capital expenditure, a figure that refers to the money companies spend to acquire or upgrade tangible assets, already totals tens of billions. Capex, as the term is abbreviated, is a proxy for technology companies' spending on AI because the technology requires gargantuan investments in physical infrastructure, namely data centers, which require large amounts of power, water and expensive semiconductor chips. Google said during its most recent earnings call that its capital expenditure 'primarily reflects investments in servers and data centers to support AI'. Meta's year-to-date capital expenditure amounted to $30.7bn, doubling the $15.2bn figure from the same time last year, per its earnings report. For the most recent quarter alone, the company spent $17bn on capital expenditures, also double the same period in 2024, $8.5bn. Alphabet reported nearly $40bn in capex to date for the first two quarters of the current fiscal year, and Amazon reported $55.7bn. Microsoft said it would spend more than $30bn in the current quarter to build out the data centers powering its AI services. Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said the current quarter's capex would be at least 50% more than the outlay during the same period a year earlier and greater than the company's record capital expenditures of $24.2bn in the quarter to June. 'We will continue to invest against the expansive opportunity ahead,' Hood said. For the coming fiscal year, big tech's total capital expenditure is slated to balloon enormously, surpassing the already eye-popping sums of the previous year. Microsoft plans to unload about $100bn on AI in the next fiscal year, CEO Satya Nadella said Wednesday. Meta plans to spend between $66bn and $72bn. Alphabet plans to spend $85bn, significantly higher than its previous estimation of $75bn. Amazon estimated that its 2025 expenditure would come to $100bn as it plows money into Amazon Web Services, which analysts now expect to amount to $118bn. In total, the four tech companies will spend more than $400bn on capex in the coming year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The multibillion-dollar figures represent mammoth investments, which the Journal points out is larger than the European Union's quarterly spending on defense. However, the tech giants can't seem to spend enough for their investors. Microsoft, Google and Meta informed Wall Street analysts last quarter that their total capex would be higher than previously estimated. In the case of all three companies, investors were thrilled, and shares in each company soared after their respective earnings calls. Microsoft's market capitalization hit $4tn the day after its report. Even Apple, the cagiest of the tech giants, signaled that it would boost its spending on AI in the coming year by a major amount, either via internal investments or acquisitions. The company's quarterly capex rose to $3.46bn, up from $2.15bn during the same period last year. The iPhone maker reported blockbuster earnings Thursday, with rebounding iPhone sales and better-than-expected business in China, but it is still seen as lagging farthest behind on development and deployment of AI products among the tech giants. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said Thursday that the company was reallocating a 'fair number' of employees to focus on artificial intelligence and that the 'heart of our AI strategy' is to increase investments and 'embed' AI across all of its devices and platforms. Cook refrained from disclosing exactly how much Apple is spending, however. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion 'We are significantly growing our investment, I'm not putting specific numbers behind that,' he said. Smaller players are trying to keep up with the incumbents' massive spending and capitalize on the gold rush. OpenAI announced at the end of the week of earnings that it had raised $8.3bn in investment, part of a planned $40bn round of funding, valuing the startup, whose ChatGPT chatbot kicked in 2022, at $300bn.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Commanders coach on Terry McLaurin trade request: Business as usual
August 2 - Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said Saturday that he understands the business side of the sport when it comes to wide receiver Terry McLaurin requesting a trade from the team. McLaurin asked for a change of scenery on Thursday given his frustration with the lack of progress in negotiations toward a contract extension. Quinn said McLaurin told him of his plea for a trade before the news became public. "We love Terry. I'm really glad he's here," Quinn said. "Hopefully he's out practicing soon. We also understand there's the business side of this things that (general manager) Adam (Peters) and his side and Terry and his reps are working it through. I just kind of stay in that space. We recognize both are happening. "But like I said, I'm really glad he's here. I love coaching him. But the business side, that's kind of where it's at. It's not -- somebody asked me if it's a distraction -- it is not. Players today, they're more aware of contracts and things maybe than they used to be. They recognize that business part happens, as well, so for the team, we're just rocking and going and throwing some great practices. "For Terry and the trade request, that's part of normal business that is happening around the NFL. It's normal, we understand it, and we just throw our very best practices out on the field." McLaurin, who turns 30 in September, became a hold-in and was placed on the team's physically unable to perform list with an apparent ankle injury suffered last season. He did not attend organized team activities and mandatory minicamp. He did, however, participate in spring workouts. With a base salary of $15.5 million and cap hit of $25.5 million in the final season of a three-year, $68.3 million contract, the speedster is coming off a career year with 1,096 receiving yards, 13 touchdowns and 82 receptions on 117 targets. He added three scores and 227 yards on 14 receptions in three playoff games. McLaurin and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels helped lead Washington to a 12-5 regular-season mark and its best season since it won the Super Bowl in 1991. The Commanders knocked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round and Detroit Lions in the divisional round before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. Over six seasons with Washington, the two-time Pro Bowl selection (2022, 2024) has 6,379 receiving yards, 38 touchdowns and 460 catches in 97 games. A team captain, McLaurin has hit the 1,000-yard mark for a franchise-record five straight seasons despite instability at the quarterback position before Daniels' NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign. --Field Level Media
