Global shares rose yesterday as investors clung to the view that US interest rates may fall further this year, and US gold futures hit a record high on uncertainty over whether country-specific US import tariffs would apply to the most commonly traded sizes of gold bars.
Gold futures reached a new intraday high at $3,534.10 an ounce after the Financial Times reported that Washington had classified one-kilo bars, the most traded type of bullion on Comex – the world’s biggest futures market – as subject to “reciprocal” tariff rates.
One-kilo bars make up the largest part of Switzerland’s gold shipments to the United States. Imports from Switzerland face a 39pc reciprocal tariff from Thursday. The FT said 100-ounce bars would also face the levy.
The dollar was on track for a weekly loss after US President Donald Trump moved to reshape the US central bank on Thursday. He nominated Council of Economic Advisers’ Chair Stephen Miran for a short-term board seat after Adriana Kugler’s abrupt exit, narrowing his shortlist to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends May 15.
Miran holds similar views to Trump, who has berated Powell for being “too late” in cutting rates, even though growth is holding up and inflation is ticking higher.
Bloomberg News reported that Fed Governor Christopher Waller was emerging as a leading contender for the chair.
The MSCI All-Country index was up 0.53 per cent, just below record highs struck two weeks ago.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.53pc to 44,201.25, the S&P 500 gained 0.72pc at 6,385.95 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.85pc at 21,423.01.
In Europe, shares got a lift from a series of robust earnings and optimism that the hefty US tariffs that kicked in on Thursday would be subject to negotiation.
The STOXX 600 index was up 0.15pc. Largely upbeat corporate results and firming bets of more Fed rate cuts have helped European stocks rise from five-week lows last Friday.
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