Joe Hoppe

1 week ago | morningstar.com | Joe Hoppe

By Joe Hoppe Central banks around the globe expect world holdings of gold to rise over the next year, while the outlook for the U.S. dollar has soured, according to the World Gold Council. More than 95% of central bank respondents expect reserve managers to increase global holdings of bullion, the highest proportion on record since the annual survey began, the World Gold Council's report said. Nearly 43% of the banks plan to add to their own reserves within the next year, another record high.

2 weeks ago | wsj.com | Joe Hoppe

The price of the yellow metal has risen nearly 62% since the start of 2024Gold surpassed the euro as the second largest global reserve asset at market prices last year, the European Central Bank said. At the end of 2024, gold bullion made up around 20% of global official reserves–which comprise both foreign exchange and gold holdings–overtaking the euro’s 16%, the ECB said in a report. The increased share was driven by a combination of central bank stockpiling and record high gold prices.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | Joe Hoppe

The UN food price index—which tracks global prices for a basket of staple foods—is down 8.2% on yearFood prices fell in May as declines in corn and palm oil outweighed historically high prices for butter and bovine meat, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations showed on Friday. The FAO’s food price index–which tracks global prices for a basket of staple foods–averaged 127.7 points, down 1.0 point from April.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | Joe Hoppe

However, the company said it would be alert to opportunities when they emergeTrafigura warned of near-term commodities market turbulence on geopolitical and macroeconomic instability, uncertain trade policies and the threat of increasing inflation. The Switzerland-and-Singapore-based commodity trading house said it expects volatility in its markets to persist into the second half of its fiscal year, as the risk of tariffs and a new trade war sharply rose in the first few months of 2025.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | Joe Hoppe

Diversification away from the U.S. dollar remained the key driver of the trendGold is likely to hit a new all-time high later this year on U.S.-policy driven economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and robust central-bank demand, according to a new report. The yellow metal’s average annual price is forecast to rise 35% to $3,210 a troy ounce in 2025, the report by precious-metals consultancy Metals Focus said. Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.