Gold recoups from 1-week low as tariff uncertainty weighs on risk appetite

Feb 26 (Reuters) – Gold prices climbed on Wednesday, recovering from a one-week low touched in the previous session, as uncertainties stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans dampened risk appetite and boosted demand for safe-haven bullion.

* Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,925.05 an ounce, as of 0041 GMT. Prices dropped more than 2% on Tuesday.

* U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to $2,936.30.

* Amid the ongoing tariff threats, Trump opened yet another front on Tuesday in his assault on global trade norms, ordering a probe into potential new tariffs on copper imports to rebuild U.S. production of a metal critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid and many consumer goods.

* As an aftermath of tariff concerns, U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated at its sharpest pace in 3-1/2 years in February, while 12-month inflation expectations surged.

* “It’s hard to make significant monetary policy changes amid such uncertainty,” Richmond Federal Reserve President Tom Barkin said on Tuesday.

* Higher inflation may force the Fed to keep rates higher, tarnishing non-yielding gold’s appeal.

* Concerns about a looming trade war, fuelled by Trump’s tariff proposals, have driven gold, a safe-haven asset, to reach a record high of $2,956.15 on Monday.

* Elsewhere, China’s total gold imports via Hong Kong in January fell 44.8% from December to their lowest point since April 2022, data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department showed on Tuesday.

* Spot silver was steady at $31.72 an ounce, platinum rose 0.1% to $967.35, and palladium was 0.3% higher at $930.32.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0500 Japan Leading Indicator Revised Dec 1500 US New Home Sales-Units Jan

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)