Monday 19/January/2026 – 06:06 PM
I witnessed Gold prices A noticeable increase in local and global markets during Monday’s trading, after the ounce touched the highest level in its history at about $4,690, driven by the escalation of global geopolitical tensions, in addition to US President Donald Trump’s threats to impose new customs duties on a number of European countries.
Gold prices in the local market
Saeed Embabi, Executive Director of the iSagha platform, said that gold prices in the local market recorded a strong increase by about 85 pounds during today’s trading, bringing the price of a gram of 21 karat gold to the level of 6,240 pounds, while gold prices rose globally, with the price of an ounce recording about 4,675 dollars, after touching a new historical level at 4,690 dollars during trading.
Embabi added that the price of a gram of 24 karat gold was about 7,132 pounds, while the price of a gram of 18 karat gold was about 5,349 pounds, and the price of a gold pound rose to about 49,920 pounds, which reflects the strong momentum witnessed by the local gold market in conjunction with record highs on global stock exchanges.
The report indicated that gold prices in local markets and the global stock market had risen by 1.9% during last week’s trading, driven by the escalation of geopolitical tensions and global political turmoil, which enhanced the demand for the yellow metal as one of the most important safe havens, and pushed it to record new record levels.
During Asian trading on Monday morning, the price of gold reached its highest levels ever, temporarily approaching the level of $4,700 per ounce, amid a combination of geopolitical uncertainty and market expectations that the US Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates during the coming period, which supports gold prices globally.
Last week, the precious metal recorded several successive records, and market observers believe that this strong performance is mainly due to the growing demand for hedging tools, as investors usually resort to gold during periods of escalating political and economic risks, as it is an asset that maintains its value in times of uncertainty.
For commodity markets, the coincidence of geopolitical conflicts with the escalation of trade policies is a critical factor, as this, on the one hand, increases demand for gold as a safe haven, and on the other hand, tariffs and potential retaliatory measures affect global economic growth expectations, supply chains and inflation levels, which are factors that cast their shadow on interest rates and currency movements, and thus on gold prices.
In the same context, the precious metals market received additional support after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose new customs tariffs on eight European countries due to their opposition to his initiative to annex Greenland. Trump threatened to impose 10% tariffs on imports from those countries as of February 1, rising to 25% by next June if an agreement is not reached.
This announcement sparked angry reactions from European officials, as some major countries in the European Union considered it a type of political and economic blackmail, while France proposed taking unprecedented economic countermeasures, which increased fears about the outbreak of a large-scale trade dispute between the United States and Europe.
This coincided with the escalation of geopolitical risks globally, which sparked a new wave of risk aversion in global markets, and prompted investors to strengthen their positions in safe assets, led by gold, which provided strong support for its prices during the current period.
At the same time, trade war fears contributed to sparking a crisis of confidence in US assets, which pushed the US dollar to retreat from its highest levels recorded since December 9, during the past week. The weakness of the dollar is an additional supportive factor for gold prices, given the inverse relationship between them.
However, the report indicated that the decline in expectations of US interest rate cuts by an additional two times in 2026 by the Federal Reserve limited speculators’ bets on further weakness of the dollar, and at the same time constituted a factor of relative pressure on gold, which does not generate returns.
The report indicated that a state of anticipation still dominates investors, as many prefer to wait for more clear signals regarding the path of US monetary policy, and therefore the markets’ attention is currently focused on the release of data on the personal consumer spending price index in the United States, in addition to the final reading of the gross domestic product for the third quarter, which are scheduled to be released next Thursday.
Last Saturday, Trump renewed his pledge to impose additional customs duties, confirming in official statements that the United States would continue its position until the purchase of Greenland was allowed, which brought back to the fore fears of a new trade war, which pushed gold prices to record a new record level at the beginning of the week’s trading.
On the other hand, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East increased the state of anxiety in the markets, as Iran issued a new warning that any attack on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could lead to the outbreak of an all-out war, which strengthened the attractiveness of gold as a safe haven.
