Investing.com-- Gold prices fell in Asian trade on Wednesday, falling further from record highs after U.S. President Donald Trump touted potentially lower trade tariffs on China, while also backtracking from his tirade against the Federal Reserve.

The yellow metal clocked heavy overnight losses on Tuesday as investors pulled out of havens and piled into a risk-on rally in equities, following Trump’s comments. A mild rebound in the dollar also weighed on gold.

Spot gold fell 1% to $3,347.54 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in June fell 1.8% to $3,356.99/oz by 01:22 ET (05:22 GMT). Spot prices still remained close to a peak of $3,500.33/oz hit on Tuesday.

Most other metal prices took limited support from improving risk sentiment, while bigger losses in gold were still limited by persistent uncertainty over Trump’s policies.

Gold slides from peak as Trump talks lower China tariffs

Risk appetite improved on Tuesday after Trump said he did see an eventual reduction in steep trade duties on China, although this was largely contingent on China coming to the negotiating table.

Trump’s comments came after a report showed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent viewing an ongoing U.S.-China trade war as “unsustainable,” and that he expected a de-escalation soon.

Trump imposed 145% tariffs on China, drawing retaliatory tariffs of 125% from Beijing. While Trump’s comments brewed some optimism over an eventual trade deal between the world’s biggest economies, China has so far signaled little intent in backing down from a trade showdown.

Trump also backtracked on his recent criticism of the Fed, stating that he did not plan to fire Chair Jerome Powell. The President had engaged in an extended social media tirade against Powell, calling on him to lower interest rates or risk a U.S. recession.

Sentiment improved marginally after Trump’s comments on Tuesday, sapping gold of the safe haven demand that had powered its rally so far in 2025.

Other precious metals were mixed. Platinum futures rose 0.7% to $961.70/oz, while silver futures fell 0.6% to $32.720/oz.

Among industrial metals, copper prices gained on hopes of improving economic conditions in top importer China, although a prolonged U.S. trade war is likely to weigh.

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4% to $9,424.20 a ton, while U.S. copper futures rose 1.1% to $4.9020 a pound.

Gold to hit $4,000/oz by Q2 2026, JP Morgan says

JP Morgan expects gold to cross $4,000/oz by mid-2026, citing increased expectations of a recession amid U.S. tariffs, a trade war, and sustained central bank demand.

JPM’s forecast comes as spot gold reached $3,500/oz for the first time this week, as safe haven demand for the yellow metal remained strong. Recent declines in the dollar and Treasury yields also showed markets were largely biased towards gold as a haven.

But on the other hand, JPM warned that a potential bear case for gold could be an unexpected drop-off in central bank demand. Resilience in the U.S. economy could also undermine safe haven demand.