According to Geojit Investments, global commodity markets remained volatile, with gold hitting fresh record highs on geopolitical tensions, energy prices turning mixed, and base metals such as copper and aluminium reflecting demand pressures from China.
- Gold prices surged to fresh record highs today amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and NATO over Greenland. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose higher tariffs from February 1 on eight European countries unless the United States is permitted to purchase Greenland, heightening concerns of a renewed global trade war.
- Spot gold surged to a fresh record of USD 4,887.82 per troy ounce, while spot silver remained firm above USD 95 per troy ounce. Broad sell-offs across global equity markets further enhanced the appeal of bullion as a safe-haven investment.
- U.S. CPI data showed inflation holding relatively steady at 2.7% annually. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump welcomed the figures and renewed his call for Fed Chair Jerome Powell to implement “meaningful” interest rate cuts.
- Crude oil prices edged lower as tensions over Greenland and easing concerns about potential supply disruptions from Iran weighed on the market.
- China’s unwrought copper imports in 2025 fell to the lowest level since 2020, as high prices weighed on demand. The top consumer imported 5.32 million metric tonnes of unwrought copper in 2025, down 6.4% from 2024, the lowest since record-high imports in 2020. December imports increased 2.3% to 437,000 tons compared with November.
- China’s aluminium production crept above 45 million metric tonnes in 2025, largely in line with a government-mandated national output cap and marking a slowdown in growth from 2024. Full-year output in the world’s largest consumer and producer of the light metal rose 2.4% to 45.02 million tonnes, a slow down from the growth rate in 2024 of 4.6%.
- NYMEX natural gas futures soared 25% to a six-week high today on forecasts for much colder weather that is likely to lead to wells freezing and higher heating demand over the next two weeks than previously expected, forcing some traders to cover short positions.
- Meanwhile, European Union gas storage facilities have now fallen below 50% capacity, standing nearly 14 billion cubic meters under their five year average. In 2025, EU sourced 27% of its total gas and LNG imports from the U.S.
