Gold Climbs Amid Brewing Middle East Tensions

(RTTNews) - Gold prices rose on Friday amid brewing Middle East tensions and the renewed Russia-Ukraine crisis along with continuing trade uncertainty as the US economy shows resilience.

Front Month Comex Gold for July delivery climbed $12.90 (or 0.39%) to $3,353.00 per troy ounce today. Gold lost $3.00 (or 0.09%) per troy ounce this week.

Front Month Comex Silver for July delivery rose by 16.70 cents (or 0.44%) to $38.223 per troy ounce today. Silver lost 45.30 cents (1.17%) per troy ounce this week.

On the tariff front, countries are speeding up their efforts to sign a trade deal with the US before the "reciprocal tariff" suspension period expires on August 1.

Analysts feel that a clear picture is likely to emerge from the second week of August, which could give clues on the direction gold will charter.

US President Donald Trump today criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for keeping borrowing costs too high despite low inflation and a strong economy.

On the geopolitical front, with Trump assuring Ukraine of providing top-end weapons (including Patriot missiles) to combat Russia, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has heated up again. In addition to sanctions on Russian oil, Trump has threatened to impose secondary tariffs up to 100% for countries buying oil from Russia.

In the Middle East, on Wednesday, Israel launched massive strikes on Syria in a measure to shield southern Syria's Druze community from government supported armed groups.

After last week's attack on bulk carriers (MV Magic Seas and MV Eternity C) in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels, the UN Security Council has authorized continued monitoring and reporting of attacks on ships.

So far, there has been no major sign of disruption of the oil and energy supply-and-transit chain, though the situation is tense.

Though these developments in the Middle East enhance gold's appeal as a safety asset, its impressive year-to-date rally seems to be slowly running out of steam.

Yesterday's economic data from the US reflected a resilient job market, with weekly initial jobless claims falling to a three-month low. Retail sales also rose more than expected in June.

Today's Commerce Department data revealed that housing starts in the US rose by 4.6% in June, while building permits increased by 0.2%.

The urgency for the US Fed to cut interest rates appears to have been reduced now.