- Trump says U.S. to impose 50% tariff on copper imports
- Minutes of Fed's June rate meeting due later in the day
July 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Wednesday to their lowest point in more than a week, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields, as the latest tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump unsettled markets.
Spot gold was down 0.4% at $3,286.96 per ounce, as of 0624 GMT, after hitting its lowest level since June 30.
U.S. gold futures fell 0.7% to $3,295.
Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and introduce long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Trump reiterated his threat of 10% tariffs on BRICS nations on Tuesday, a day after notifying 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of tariff increases set to take effect on August 1.
The U.S. dollar index strengthened 0.2% after hitting a two-week high late on Tuesday, while the yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes hovered near a three-week high.
"The chart looks rather weak with the uptrend channel in place since mid-February now broken," said Marex analyst Edward Meir, adding that a stronger dollar and higher treasury yields were pressurising gold at the moment.
Higher yield increases the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while a firmer dollar makes greenback-priced gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Investors will closely examine minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting, due later in the day, for hints of potential interest rate cuts amid the central bank's wait-and-see approach.
"It's a light week for economic data, but how prices react to minutes from June's FOMC meeting may help establish where we are in the Fed vs. market policy debate," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.
Meanwhile, Americans' inflation outlook remained stable, with the New York Fed's latest survey showing one-year inflation estimates at 3%, down from 3.2% in May, while the three- and five-year expectations stayed at 3% and 2.6%, respectively.
Spot silver fell 0.5% to $36.59 per ounce, platinum shed 0.9% at $1,346.57 and palladium held steady at $1,110.45.
Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu
Source: Reuters