Gold Modestly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Gold prices traded higher on Thursday even as the dollar resumed its advance after coming under selling pressure in the previous session.

Spot gold edged up by 0.4 percent to $51,161.05 while U.S. gold futures were up 0.8 percent at $5,173.26.

The dollar strengthened towards an over three-month high hit earlier in the week after a modest pullback overnight.

The greenback has seen more demand amid elevated geopolitical risks.

Iran claimed it struck a U.S. oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, raising fears of wider conflict and Hormuz disruption.

According to Iran's Mehr news agency, the military targeted the tanker with a missile and set it on fire.

The claim came shortly after the United States submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka.

In a Pentagon briefing, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the warship was the first such attack on an enemy since World War II.

As the conflict entered its sixth day, pro-American Iranian Kurdish forces based in Iraq are reportedly preparing for a potential incursion into Iran.

The U.S. Senate has voted down a resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump's authority to continue military strikes against Iran.

On the tariff front, a federal judge in New York ruled that companies are entitled to refunds for tariffs invalidated by the Supreme Court last month.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that the global import tariff rate could soon increase from the current 10 percent to 15 percent.

"It's my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months," Bessent said during a CNBC interview.

In economic releases, reports on U.S. import prices and initial jobless claims will be in the spotlight today before an unemployment reading on Friday.

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday that it is still appropriate to continue cutting interest rates despite the inflation and other risks stemming from the U.S. military conflict with Iran.