Profit-Taking Hits Bullion: Spot Gold Falls to $4,594 as Geopolitical Heat Simmers Down

Gold slipped on Thursday as investors booked profits after the yellow metal hit a record in the previous session, while an apparent softer tone from U.S. President Donald Trump on the Federal Reserve chair and Iran also dampened safe-haven demand. Spot gold was down 0.7% at $4,589.71 per ounce, as of 0501 GMT. In the previous session, bullion hit a record $4,642.72. U.S. gold futures for February delivery fell 0.9% to $4,594.10.

"Today, we're seeing that gold is down a bit after (Trump) said maybe we're not going to intervene in Iran, staving off safe-haven demand, but the larger story (of the metal's rise) is not going away," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. With Iran's leadership trying to quell the worst domestic unrest since the 1979 revolution, Tehran threatened U.S. military bases in the region, in an attempt to deter Trump's repeated threats of military intervention. At the White House, however, Trump suggested he was adopting a wait-and-see posture toward the crisis. Meanwhile, the president said on Wednesday that he has no plans to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, despite the Justice Department criminal investigation, but added it was "too early" to say what he would ultimately do.

The U.S. weekly jobless claims for the first week of January will be released later in the day, which could provide clues on the Fed's monetary policy path. Traders anticipate two interest rate cuts this year.

A low-interest-rate environment, geopolitical and economic uncertainty traditionally favour non-yielding assets such as gold. Spot silver slid 5.5% to $87.62 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $93.57 earlier in the session. Spot platinum receded 3.3% to $2,305.90 per ounce, a one-week high, after scaling a record peak of $2,478.50 on December 29. Palladium lost 2.6% to $1,778.80 per ounce and hovered near a one-week low.

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