Gold prices edged higher on Thursday as ‌the widening Middle East conflict drove investors towards the safe-haven asset, while a rebound in the dollar limited gains.

Donald Trump is waking up to the fact that cutting off the world’s largest oil and gas shipping route has dire consequences. That’s clear from his scramble to restart flows through the Strait of Hormuz ​by offering insurance for tankers and dispatching US Navy escorts. The idea evokes the late-1980s “Tanker War”, when Washington protected oil shipments during the Iran-Iraq ‌War. But this time a quick fix is unlikely.

The weeks before Eid-ul-Fitr, the country’s largest religious festival, are traditionally a ripe time for the clothing business. However, loom producers are facing a marked decline in sales this year, owing mainly to two factors -- little presence of foreign buyers and a lack of local wholesale trade.

The Middle East was the source of 57 percent of China's direct seaborne crude imports in 2025

Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $5,153.11 per ounce, as of 0638 GMT

The ruling comes after the Supreme Court blocked a swath of Trump's duties last month -- dealing a major blow to his trade agenda

The conflict in the resource-rich region has sent global oil prices soaring, and markets have been thrown into turmoil

Brent crude was trading up $1.67, or 2.05%, at $83.07 per barrel

Gold prices rose over 1 percent on ‌Wednesday, rebounding from a more than one-week low hit in the previous session, as a widening Middle East conflict sent global markets tumbling and supported safe-haven demand.

China’s factory activity slowed in February, official data showed on Wednesday, missing forecasts and extending a slump just ahead of closely watched announcements on policy planning.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that Donald Trump’s 15-percent global tariff is likely to be rolled out this week, as the president moves to rebuild his trade agenda after a major legal setback.

Asia depends on oil and gas from the Middle East, sourcing 60 percent of its crude from the region, making it highly vulnerable if the Iran war causes a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz supply ​route.

The dollar strengthened on Thursday after briefly retreating from three-month highs, as the fallout from war ​in the Middle East roiled global markets and kept sentiment fragile, bolstering demand for the safe-haven currency.

Despite initial US hope for a swift and decisive ouster of Tehran's clerical leadership, Iran kept up retaliatory strikes against Israel and ‌around the Gulf

Oil and gas prices surged as the US-Israeli war on Iran halted energy exports from the Middle East

Brent rose $1.17, or 1.4%, to $82.57 a barrel by 0408 GMT

While it’s tempting to assume the dollar’s long-lost “safety” bid has returned since the weekend Iran attacks, it’s not as clear-cut as it seems and owes more to relative energy plays. Yet the implications of the market response may be just as powerful.

The outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East has seen maritime insurers cancel coverage, adding to the risk shipping companies face.

As in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, the new war in the Middle East is exposing once again how far Europe and others lag in replacing imported fossil fuels with domestic solar and wind power, specialists say.

An extended conflict in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran could trigger global stagflation -- a troublesome blend of high inflation and anaemic growth -- due to spiking oil and gas prices, economists warned.