Gold hits $3,500 for first time as US dollar sinks to three-year low
Gold has risen above $3,500 an ounce for the first time while many stock markets are in the red and the US dollar hit a three-year low, after Donald Trump’s blistering attack on the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, caused alarm among investors,Spot gold reached the record price on Tuesday morning, extending a rally that has pushed bullion up from $2,623 an ounce at the start of this year,Analysts now predict the metal could even reach $4,000 only a matter of weeks after the price moved through $3,000 for the first time,The US currency and its government debt are usually seen as a safe haven during times of market turmoil, but as America itself has caused much of the recent volatility investors have been turning to another “port in the storm”, gold, in large numbers,An ongoing exodus from US assets has led to stocks on Wall Street suffering further heavy losses on Monday.
The Dow Jones – which lost close to 1,000 points, a 2.5% drop – is headed for its worst April since 1932.Traders are anxious after the US president intensified his attacks on America’s top central banker, calling Powell “Mr Too Late” and “a major loser” for not lowering interest rates.This pushed the dollar down against a basket of currencies to its lowest level since March 2022 on Tuesday morning, although it was later trading slightly higher.Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Persistent comments from President Donald Trump, which put the independence of the US Federal Reserve in question, resulted in weakness in the dollar, US Treasuries and Wall Street overnight.
“If the administration is able or willing to follow through on its threat to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell before his term is up next year, it could provoke an even stronger reaction amid fears about the implications for inflation.”The pound hit a seven-month high of $1.3423 on Tuesday and is on track for its longest winning streak against the dollar in more than 50 years.Sterling has risen against the dollar for 10 days, gaining 3.5% since “liberation day” on 2 April, when Trump announced sweeping global tariffs.
Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionStephen Innes, managing partner at the Swiss wealth management firm SPI Asset Management, said: “This is about more than Trump vs Powell.It’s about every corner of fiscal and monetary policy flashing one big red warning: confidence erosion.”Many Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower; in Europe, the German, French and Italian indices lost between 0.2% and 0.6%.
The UK’s FTSE 100 and Spain’s Ibex were up slightly, by 0,2% and 0,3%,Stock futures are pointing to modest gains on Wall Street when US markets open, after Monday’s sell-off,
Gold hits $3,500 for first time as US dollar sinks to three-year low
Gold has risen above $3,500 an ounce for the first time while many stock markets are in the red and the US dollar hit a three-year low, after Donald Trump’s blistering attack on the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, caused alarm among investors.Spot gold reached the record price on Tuesday morning, extending a rally that has pushed bullion up from $2,623 an ounce at the start of this year. Analysts now predict the metal could even reach $4,000 only a matter of weeks after the price moved through $3,000 for the first time.The US currency and its government debt are usually seen as a safe haven during times of market turmoil, but as America itself has caused much of the recent volatility investors have been turning to another “port in the storm”, gold, in large numbers.An ongoing exodus from US assets has led to stocks on Wall Street suffering further heavy losses on Monday
US to impose tariffs of up to 3,521% on south-east Asia solar panels
US trade officials are preparing to impose tariffs of up to 3,521% on imports of solar panels from four south-east Asian countries, while the International Energy Agency has said lessons from the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had not been fully learned.The US commerce department has announced the new tariffs, targeting companies in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, after an investigation begun a year ago when American manufacturers of solar panels accused Chinese companies of flooding the market with subsidised, cheap goods.Products from Cambodia would face the highest tariffs, of 3,521%, because its companies did not cooperate with the US investigation, while products made in Malaysia by the Chinese manufacturer Jinko Solar face duties of just over 41%; rival Trina Solar’s products from Thailand will incur tariffs of 375%.A separate US government agency, the International Trade Commission, is due to make a final decision on the tariffs in June.The case was brought last year by the Korean company Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based First Solar and several smaller solar panel makers in the US
Australians pay $84 a month for their internet. Why so expensive, and what can be done to lower the cost?
Australians are paying an average of $84 per month for internet access on the NBN – and in a cost-of-living crisis, questions are being raised about why cheaper internet is not available for people on lower incomes.What could be done to lower NBN pricing plans, and can we learn from overseas?According to the latest report, about 8.6m of the 12.5m premises able to connect to the NBN are now using the service in Australia.Consumer advocacy group Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (Accan’s) latest survey conducted by Essential, of 1,065 people, found Australians are paying $84 per month on average for their home internet connection, with 31% paying between $81 and $100, 30% paying between $61 and $80, 20% paying over $100, and just 13% paying $60 or under (with the rest unsure)
Views of TikTok posts with electronic music outgrow those using indie
It is another example of the parallel worlds in the music industry. The Gallagher brothers may be taking over the world’s stadiums this summer, but over on TikTok users are moving to a different beat.Views of posts using electronic music as a soundtrack, including techno and house, outgrew those tagged for indie and alternative for the first time in 2024, according to the social media app.There were more than 13bn views of videos tagged #ElectronicMusic worldwide last year, an increase of 45% on 2023, representing faster growth than the “indie and alternative” and “rap and hip-hop” genres. Videos created with the electronic music tag grew by more than 100% over the same period
Wests Tigers and Lachlan Galvin: a modern-day NRL saga for the social media age | Jack Snape
The future of 19-year-old playmaker Lachlan Galvin may be its catalyst, but rugby league’s latest tug-of-war is a very contemporary NRL saga. It has been enriched this week by surprises, including the presence of a security guard at a local footy ground, an unusual intervention at a press conference by the Wests Tigers chief executive, a shock recall and now calls for “urgent mediation”.But this latest episode of rugby league soap opera is different. It has spilled over into the online realm and become the latest spot fire in sport’s failing efforts to extinguish the raging blaze of social media abuse. Now, that online harm has the potential to burst forth from screens and force clubs to proactively shield players from Instagram-borne threats to their welfare
Lotteries, stashed teens and bidding wars: reimagining the NFL draft
The draft makes for brilliant television and maintains interest in the league even during the offseason. But it’s worth considering other optionsThere is something funky about the draft being one of the NFL’s marquee events. At root, it’s a man stepping to the podium, being booed and reading names. The NFL still dominates Sundays … and Mondays … and Thursdays … and playoff Saturdays during the season; the draft allows the league to gobble up the offseason months too. But as interest continues to grow, there has been relatively little pushback from those who make the draft work: the prospects, particularly those slated to go at the top of the first round
NFL hall of famer Shannon Sharpe accused of rape in Nevada lawsuit
Wisden calls World Test Championship a ‘shambles’ and makes case for reform
County cricket day four: Essex survive Ethan Brookes onslaught to grab first win
‘I can trust him’: Emma Raducanu to continue coaching partnership with Mark Petchey
Verstappen’s pseudo-silence spoke volumes of the dissatisfaction in F1 | Giles Richards
Simone Biles’ coach says gymnast suffered from ‘twisties’ before 2016 Olympics