You know the market is in quite the pickle when gold, an asset widely known as a universal safe haven, is giving up its gains along with the rest of the market.
Gold was just hovering near an all-time high on Wednesday (aka, Liberation Day). But it turns out that the shiny stuff wasn’t spared from this week’s liberation from gains, either. The commodity, which had gained just under 40% in the 12 months preceding Wednesday, has fallen 3.4% over the past two days.
Unfortunately, gold isn’t the only commodity losing its luster.
It feels like we were singing copper’s praises just the other day as traders rushed to import it before tariffs hit. But once tariffs arrived, this transformed into the worst week for copper since 2011. It’s not just a weekly loss that has traders worried: Goldman Sachs analysts warn that copper demand could continue to weaken in the short term, even while they’re still bullish long term.
Silver, too, has declined over 14% since Liberation Day. Overall, the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index fell 2.5% yesterday, its biggest single-day drop since 2022.
Oil prices are slipping
In a different corner of the commodities market, oil fell to its lowest price since 2021. The steep drop today wasn’t only because of the threat of an escalating trade war causing a recession, but also because of a surprise increase in output from OPEC+. Oil prices have dropped 12.6% in the last two days.
One more obscure commodity that’s benefiting from the trade war turmoil? Humble, but vital, fertilizer. Lots of farmers import potash and fertilizer from over the border, and while tariffs may dampen demand for other imports, farmers need fertilizer no matter what.—LB
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