Gold extends record run on strong safe-haven inflows

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Gold prices extended their record run on Wednesday, as persistent market uncertainty and growing investor confidence that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month lifted demand for the safe-haven metal.

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $3,537 per ounce, as of 0145 GMT, after hitting an all-time of $3,546.99 earlier in the session. US gold futures for December delivery gained 0.3% to $3,602.50.

Heightening uncertainty and potential trade tensions in the market, US President Donald Trump's administration said it will ask the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling on tariffs that a US appeals court found illegal last week.

"The Supreme Court decision has seemingly introducing a lot of uncertainty into the market because they could radically change what the macro landscape looks like if these decisions don't go the president's way," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

"The attempt at compromising Fed independence to some extent, that's a very big deal as well. The bias for gold is very clearly higher, momentum here seems rather one-sided."

Trump has been exerting relentless pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates and publicly discussed firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Upping this battle, Trump last month attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, setting off a critical legal test over the Fed's ability to function without political interference.

US rate futures are pricing in a 92% chance of a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut at the end of the two-day policy meeting on September 17, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 1.32% to 990.56 tons on Tuesday, the highest since August 2022.

Investors are now looking forward to the US non-farm payrolls data, due on Friday, to determine the size of the Fed's potential rate cut later this month.

Elsewhere, spot silver eased 0.2% to $40.82 per ounce, after hitting its highest since September 2011 in the previous session. Platinum gained 0.4% to $1,409 and palladium rose 0.7% to $1,142.77.