Gold hits new highs, oil prices rise slightly, copper falls

Gold prices hit a new high on Thursday as the trade war intensified, stimulating safe-haven demand. Additionally, Goldman Sachs raised its gold price target. Oil prices saw a slight increase on Thursday due to signs of tightening supply. London copper prices fell. Here are the commodity prices compiled from Bloomberg:

Gold Prices Reach New High

Gold rose to a historic high on Thursday after Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported cars, while Goldman Sachs raised its year-end gold price forecast to $3,300 per ounce.

Gold surged 1.3% on Thursday to $3,059.63, surpassing the record high reached a week earlier.

Trump's announcement of a 25% tariff on imported cars heightened trade tensions and boosted safe-haven demand. Goldman Sachs noted that central bank demand for gold was stronger than expected, and strong inflows into gold ETFs made them more bullish.

Aakash Doshi, head of gold strategy at State Street Global Advisors, pointed out that ETF buying by North American investors was one of the key drivers of gold's strong performance this year.

At 2:30 PM Eastern Time, gold prices rose 1.2% to $3,055.06 per ounce.

Oil Prices Slightly Up

Crude oil prices rose slightly on Thursday as recent signs of tightening supply and demand overshadowed the potential impact of the escalating trade war on global energy consumption.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.4%, settling just below $70 per barrel. A report released by the U.S. government on Wednesday showed that crude oil inventories fell by 3.34 million barrels last week to a one-month low, helping to alleviate market concerns about oversupply.

Oil prices have maintained an upward trend since March due to the potential supply disruptions from oil-producing countries like Iran and Venezuela, exacerbated by sanctions and tariffs from the Trump administration.

However, as the White House pushes for tariffs on cars and threatens harsher penalties if the EU and Canada join forces against the U.S., the escalating trade war has weighed on stock market performance and limited oil price gains.

WTI crude futures for May delivery rose 0.4%, settling at $69.92 per barrel; May Brent crude rose 0.3%, closing at $74.03 per barrel.

Copper Prices Fall

Copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.8%, settling at $9,846.50 per ton; other major LME metals were mixed, with aluminum down 1.7% and tin up 0.6%.

Copper prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.4% to $5.1195 per pound, after soaring to a historic high the previous day