Gold prices rose in Asian trading on Wednesday in the aftermath of the United States’ strike on Venezuela and ahead of U.S. jobs data this week.
Spot gold was up 0.6% to US$4,466.72 per ounce by 3:30 pm AEDT (4:30 am GMT). Silver also climbed 3.8% to $79.67.
The strike and seizure of Venezuela's President on Saturday has increased demand for gold as a safe-haven asset.
Economic and geopolitical tensions similarly contributed to gold’s 64% price gain in 2025.
“The Venezuelan geopolitical escalation provided a short-term boost to safe-haven demand but its impact may be limited,” Pepperstone analyst Dilin Wu wrote .
“Looking medium-term, shifts in the global political landscape, further [Federal Reserve] rate cuts, and central bank gold purchases continue to support the bullish case, with dip-buying remaining popular among traders.”
The U.S. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report will be released on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) and December’s monthly jobs data is due on Friday (Saturday AEDT).
Economists project unemployment rates declined by 0.1 percentage points to 4.5% in December, per Reuters polls.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said this week that the Fed was nearing a point where it could stop cutting interest rates, although this would depend on the labour market.
“My guess is we’re pretty close to neutral right now,” Kashkari told CNBC. “We just need to get more data to see which is the bigger force. Is it inflation or is it the labour market? And then we can move from a neutral stance, whatever direction is necessary.”
