Gold Drops 1% to $3,365 as Trump‑Putin Talks and Tariff Clarification Ease Safe‑Haven Bid Ahead of CPI

Gold eased back Monday as a cooling in geopolitical tensions trimmed demand for bullion and traders queued up for Tuesday's U.S. inflation print.

At 04:30 ET spot gold was around $3,365.26 an ounce, down roughly 1%. December gold futures were trading near $3,419.90/oz, off about 2.1% from recent highs.

The market reaction was straightforward: talk of diplomacy knocked a bit of the safe‑haven bid out of gold. Donald Trump is due to meet Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 to discuss a possible end to the conflict in Ukraine. Trump's deadline for a deal passed without tougher U.S. sanctions on Russia, and that softer posture has taken some pressure off bullion. Still, the path to any negotiated settlement looks bumpy - Moscow's demand that Kyiv cede territory isn't something many expect to be resolved quickly.

All of that matters less than the calendar this week. July's Consumer Price Index is due Tuesday, with the Producer Price Index later in the week. Those prints will be parsed for clues about the Federal Reserve's next steps: markets are currently pricing in a high probability of a September rate cut after a surprisingly weak jobs report earlier in the month.

There's also a tariff subplot that roiled the metal market last week. A U.S. Customs decision that 1‑kilogram and 100‑ounce standard gold bars could be subject to import duties sent futures to record highs above $3,530/oz as bullion flows were disrupted and some Swiss refiners paused shipments into the U.S. The story has softened after reports that the White House plans clarification - potentially via executive action - which appears to have calmed logistics concerns.

Precious and base metals broadly slid Monday. Platinum futures were near $1,330.80/oz, silver around $37.99/oz, LME copper about $9,751.50/ton and U.S. copper roughly $4.4485/lb.

Outside commodities, a few big names were moving: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was trading at about $229.35 (+4.24%), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) near $182.70 (+1.07%) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) around $329.65 (+2.29%). These moves reflect broader risk appetite that's also denting safe‑haven flows into gold.

There's one simple line to watch this week: CPI on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Headline and core prints will set the tone - for a day, at least.