Gold futures jump to record high after US tariffs on cast bars

The gold trade is usually circular between London, New York and Switzerland, with bars cast and recast in different sizes according to orders. Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

The price of gold futures have soared to a record high after it emerged that the US would put tariffs on imports of 1kg bars in a further trade blow to Switzerland, which dominates the world’s refining industry.

Swiss exports to the US were hit by a crippling 39% tariff on Thursday after the country’s president returned empty-handed from a last-minute dash to Washington in an attempt to get the rate, among the highest imposed by Donald Trump, lowered.