By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- The gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower today as the upcoming US tariffs annoucement on April 2 is expected to be more selective and targeted than initially feared.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the underlying correlation here is clear: the more aggressive the tariffs, the greater the potential economic fallout -- boosting the odds of earlier US Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cuts, which in turn supports gold.

“With the tariffs tone appearing more measured, some of the bullish momentum in the yellow metal has eased, triggering a mild pullback,” he told Bernama. 

At the close, the spot-month March 2025 contract fell to US$3,031.80 per troy ounce from US$3,034.20 per troy ounce last Friday, while April 2025 slid to US$3,041.70 per troy ounce from US$3,044.10 per troy ounce previously.

May 2025, June 2025, and August 2025 all decreased to US$3,051.70 per troy ounce from US$3,054.10 per troy ounce on Friday.

Trading volume declined to five lots from 17 lots on Friday, while open interest declined to 73 contracts from 87 contracts previously. 

According to the London Bullion Market Association’s afternoon fix on March 21, physical gold was priced at US$3,013.70 per troy ounce.

-- BERNAMA