Gold prices steadied in Asian trade on Friday and were headed for strong gains in February as safe haven demand was underpinned by increased geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty through the month.  

Disruptions in U.S. trade policy, along with concerns over cooling growth in the world’s largest economies also kept traders largely biased towards safe havens, helping bullion recover a bulk of its late-January losses.

The breaking out of a war between Pakistan and Afghanistan spurred some haven demand on Friday, although the conflict so far remained relegated to between the two South Asian countries. 

Gold heads for solid Feb gains, recoups late-Jan losses 

Spot gold rose steadied at 5,187.18 an ounce by 00:12 ET (05:12 GMT), while gold futures for April rose 0.2% to $5,203.61/oz. 

Spot gold was trading up 6.7% in February, having largely rebounded from lows hit at the beginning of the month, after a speculative rally in gold came undone in a matter of days. 

Spot prices had fallen as low as $4,600/oz in early-February. 

Geopolitical tensions over Iran were a key driver of gold’s rebound, as Washington deployed more ships to the Middle East and threatened military action if Tehran did not accept a nuclear deal.

Talks between Iran and the U.S. concluded this week with no deal being reached. But both sides did commit to more discussions in the coming weeks, spurring some optimism over an eventual nuclear deal. 

Heightened uncertainty over the U.S. economy also drove gold’s gains, especially after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling struck down most of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

Trump had responded by announcing new tariffs under a different legal framework, and threatened more levies, keeping markets on edge over more economic disruptions from the levies. 

Other precious metals advanced on Friday and were set for a strong performance in February. Spot silver rose 1.7% to $89.7785/oz and was up 6% this month, while spot platinum surged 3% to $2,351.63/oz and was up 8.4% in February. 

Copper set for mild Feb gains with China demand in focus

Among industrial metals, copper prices rose slightly on Friday and were nursing a mildly positive performance in February, as markets awaited more cues on China, the world’s largest importer.

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metals Exchange rose 0.2% to $13,333.0 a ton, and were trading up 1.2% this month. 

COMEX copper futures rose 0.4% to $6.0480 a pound and were up 1.1% this month. 

Copper’s muted performance in February was largely driven by buyers keeping to the sidelines amid China’s Lunar New Year holiday, which saw Mainland markets closed for over a week.

ANZ analysts noted that China’s copper inventories had built up more than expected during the break, as had global copper stockpiles, amid mining and trade disruptions.

But with China markets having reopened this week, focus was squarely on more buying activities in the country. Copper demand is expected to rise rapidly in the coming quarters as the artificial intelligence buildout accelerates.