Gold breaks below $4,000, on track for weekly decline

Today’s headlines

What’s happening: Gold prices recovered slightly this morning after breaking below the $4,000 support level.

What happened: Rising tensions between the US and Iran sparked inflationary concerns.

Weakness in the US dollar lent some support to gold prices this morning.

Why it matters: The US launched multiple strikes against Iran this week. US President Donald Trump continued to warn of attacks on Iran’s critical infrastructure next week in case no breakthrough in the deal is reached.

Iran retaliated by launching strikes on US bases in neighbouring regions, reigniting concerns over a further disruption in energy supplies. Crude oil prices have surged around 12% so far this week.

The US released its PPI (Producer Price Index) data on Wednesday, which showed cooler-than-expected inflation, easing speculations of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates. Non-yielding gold generally moves higher in a low interest-rate environment.

Data released on Thursday showed that US initial jobless claims fell last week, while US retail ‌sales rose slightly in June.

Weakness in the US dollar lent support to gold prices, as a softer greenback makes metals cheaper for foreign currency holders. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, edged lower to 100.75 this morning.

Spot price for gold rose 0.2% to $3,982.81 an ounce this morning but remained on track to record its biggest weekly decline in six weeks.

In other metals trading, silver prices declined 0.4% to trade at $55.2865 an ounce this morning. Platinum prices dipped 0.8% to $1,609.66, while palladium prices fell 0.3% to $1,250.06.

What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on tensions between the US and Iran.

Data on export prices (1630 UAE Time), import prices (1630 UAE Time) and Michigan consumer sentiment (1800 UAE Time) from the US will be released today. US export prices, which surged by 1.3% in May, are expected to decline by 0.4% in June. Analysts expect US import prices to decline 0.7% in June following a 1.9% gain in May. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, which was revised higher to 49.5 in June, is expected to rise further to 51 in July, while year-ahead inflation expectations are likely to ease to 4.3% in July from 4.6% in June.

The markets today

Abbott Laboratories in focus today following the release of quarterly results

Context: Shares of Abbott Laboratories rose sharply on Thursday after the company posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised its full-year outlook.

Details: Revenues surged 13% year-over-year to $12.59 billion, topping consensus estimates of $12.50 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.31 per share, ahead of Wall Street expectations of $1.28 per share.

Medical devices remained the company’s growth engine, with sales up 9% to $5.85 billion during the quarter. Established pharmaceuticals sales rose 8.4%, while diagnostics revenue climbed 42.3% on a reported basis in the second quarter.

Abbott closed the acquisition of Exact Sciences, which added more preventive products to its offerings, including the non-invasive colorectal cancer screening test, Cologuard.

Management guided to third quarter adjusted earnings of $1.38 to $1.46 per share, versus market estimates of $1.42 per share.

Abbott raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook to $5.45-$5.60 per share, from its previous guidance of $5.38-$5.58 per share. Management reaffirmed their comparable sales growth outlook of 6.5%-7.5% for the year.

How shares responded: Abbott’s shares jumped 10.7% to close at $98.83 on Thursday following the release of second-quarter results. The stock has lost more than 20% year to date.

What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on the company’s Medical Devices segment and the new launches planned by Abbott’s biggest rival, Johnson & Johnson.

Other Markets: European indices closed mixed on Thursday, with the DAX 40 and CAC 40 down by 0.34% and 0.05%, respectively, and the FTSE 100 and STOXX Europe 600 Index up by 0.54% and 0.16%, respectively.

The news shaping the markets

Major Russian energy companies contacted Indian refiners for more gasoline following attacks by Ukraine on its refineries. The news sent the USD/RUB pair higher in forex trading this morning.

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports grew 20.7% year-over-year in June. However, this being a slowdown from the previous month’s 38.4% surge lent support to the USD/SGD forex pair.

Brazil’s retail sales volume climbed 0.1% in May, recovering from a 1.6% decline in April. The latest reading falling short of market estimates of a 0.5% rise sent the USD/BRL pair higher in forex trading this morning.

The Eurozone recorded a trade deficit of €7.8 billion in May, versus a year-ago surplus of €15 billion. The latest reading also came in worse than market estimates of €1.6 billion, which exerted pressure on the EUR/USD forex pair.

New Zealand’s annual food inflation eased to 2.5% in June from 3.2% in the previous month. Although this was the softest growth since February 2025, the NZD/USD pair slipped in forex trading this morning.

What else to watch today

Eurozone’s construction output (1300 UAE Time), India’s infrastructure output (1530 UAE Time), Canada’s inflation rate (1630 UAE Time), core inflation rate (1630 UAE Time) and CPI trimmed-mean (1630 UAE Time), US CB leading index (1800 UAE Time), Turkey’s central government debt (1830 UAE Time) as well as Argentina’s balance of trade (2300 UAE Time).