02:00 PM EDT, 04/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates prices.)

Gold was sharply lower lower mid-afternoon on Friday, falling for a second day amid tumbling stock markets as trade wars accelerate after President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed blanket tariffs on U.S. trading partners, while the United States added nearly twice as many new jobs last month than expected.

Gold for June delivery was last seen down US$77.90 to US$3,043.80 per ounce, continuing to fall off Tuesday's record high of US$3,166.20.

The drop comes as the fallout from Trump's trade wars continues, with China, whose exports to the United States now face a tariff of more than 50%, imposed a 34% levy on U.S. imports, upsetting trade flows while cutting into global economic growth and raising inflation, which, in the end, could heighten gold's role as a store of value.

"We think the net effect of "Liberation Day" will be supportive given the ongoing uncertainty and growth negative/inflation-positive implications. While the 10% baseline tariff could have been a bit of a tariff clearing event on its own, reciprocal tariffs for major trading partners are high and uncertainty certainly lingers ahead of retaliation," Christopher Louney, a commodities strategist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote.

The drop comes even as hiring surged in the United States, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting the country added 228,000 new jobs in March, up from 117,000 in February and well ahead of the FactSet consensus estimate for a rise of 130,000 positions.

The market is also waiting on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's first comments following the new tariffs. Powell is scheduled to address the economic outlook in a morning speech to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2025 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum in New York.

The dollar moved higher early after falling sharply on Thursday. The ICE dollar index was last seen up 1.05 points to 103.12.

Treasury yields were down, with the U.S. two-year note was last seen paying 3.673%, down 2.7 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was down 4.7 points to 3.986%.