02:00 PM EDT, 03/13/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates prices.)

Gold traded at a record high mid-afternoon on Thursday even as the dollar rose after another report showed U.S. inflation cooled last month, while safe-haven buying continues as U.S stock markets tumble again amid Donald Trump's tariff threats.

Gold for April delivery was last seen up US$47.20 to US$2,994.00 per ounce, topping the Feb.24 record close of US$2,963.20.

The rise comes as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the February Producer Price Index (PPI), a wholesale price measure, rose at a 3.2% annualized pace in February, down from 3.7% a month earlier and under the FactSet consensus estimate for a 3.3% reading. Core PPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.1% from January, down from a 0.5% rise that month and again under the consensus estimate for a monthly rise of 0.3%.

The data follows on Wednesday's release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index, which rose prices at a less than expected 2.8% annualized rate last month, down from 3.0% in January.

Slowing inflation is raising some expectations for further rate cuts from the Federal Reserve that would lower the carrying cost of owning gold, even as U.S. President Donald Trump launches inflationary trade wars that have mostly yet to take effect and are boosting safe haven buying. Tumbling U.S. stock markets are also supporting the metal, with the Nasdaq Composite Index down 13.6% over the past month, while the S&P 500 Index is down 9.8% over the period.

"President Trump's rapid move to announce, if not always to enact, import tariffs has contributed to geopolitical uncertainty and boosted inflation expectations, helping push down front end real rates and supporting gold in the face of periodic USD strength and initially reduced expectations for Fed rate cuts," Macquarie Group noted as it raised its price forecast for the metal, seeing it trading at an average US$3,150 in the third quarter, up from US$2,650.

The dollar moved higher, bearish for commodities priced in the currency. The ICE dollar index was last seen up 0.15 points to 104.08. Treasury yields fell, with the yield on U.S. two-year note last seen down 5.3 basis points to 3.938%, while the 10-year note was paying 4.261%, down 5.4 points.