Gold prices hit a record high in Asian trade on Wednesday, benefiting from sustained safe haven demand as markets fretted over U.S.-China trade tensions and an impairment warning from Nvidia. 

The yellow metal was also aided by weakness in the dollar, as investors dumped U.S. Treasuries amid heightened uncertainty over the U.S. economy under President Donald Trump.

Spot gold jumped 1.7% to a record high of $3,283.63 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in June hit a peak of $3,299.52/oz. 

Gold upbeat as US trade jitters persist

Gold benefited from sustained safe haven demand as investors remained on edge over Trump’s plans to impose even more trade tariffs. Trump earlier this week said he was considering separate tariffs on electronics imports, and will also announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals soon.

This came as Trump dialed up trade pressure on China with a cumulative, 145% levy. China retaliated with a 125% tariff on U.S. imports. 

But Trump’s administration signaled that electronics were exempt from his 145% levy on China, while Trump also recently announced a 90-day exemption from his reciprocal tariffs on other countries.

This left markets uncertain over the U.S. president’s plans for more tariffs, keeping them biased largely towards safe haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen. 

 Nvidia warning adds to trade concerns, sparks tech losses 

Market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) warned on Tuesday that it faces a $5.5 billion impairment in its first-quarter earnings from new U.S. restrictions on chip exports to China.

The move could potentially block Nvidia and its chipmaking peers from selling to China, which is otherwise a major chip market. This notion sparked steep aftermarket losses in U.S. stock futures, while major tech shares in Asia also sank, reflecting more risk aversion. 

The restrictions also stand to potentially further block Chinese companies from access to AI development, and could draw more retaliatory measures from Beijing.

Other precious metals were mixed amid heightened risk aversion. Platinum futures fell 0.1% to $968.95/oz, while silver futures rose 0.5% to $32.455/oz.

Copper slips despite strong China GDP

Among industrial metals, copper prices fell even as top import China clocked stronger-than-expected gross domestic product growth in the first quarter.

But optimism over the reading was sullied by expectations of weaker GDP prints in the coming quarters, which are likely to reflect the impact of a U.S.-China trade war. 

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.6% to $9,108.85 a ton, while U.S. copper futures fell 0.5% to $4.5920 a pound.