Gold prices surge past $4,800 on jitters over Greenland dispute

Gold prices surge past $4,800 on jitters over Greenland dispute

Pound, gold and oil prices in focus: commodity and currency check, 21 January

Vicky McKeever

Business reporter

Wed 21 January 2026 at 6:21 am GMT-5

3 min read

In this article:

Gold (GC=F)

Gold prices extended recent gains on Wednesday morning, surging on concerns about escalating tensions over US president Donald Trump's push to take over Greenland.

Gold futures (GC=F) jumped 2% to $4,863.50 per ounce at the time of writing, while spot gold was up 2.1% at $4,862.20.

Trump has doubled down on his goal of acquiring the semi-autonomous Danish territory and has threatened to impose new tariffs on eight European countries over opposition to his plans.

The president is arriving at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday for discussions about Greenland and is due to deliver a speech at the forum later in the day.

Escalating tensions over Trump's pursuit of Greenland has fuelled demand for so-called safe haven investments, seeing investors flock to gold (GC=F), driving prices higher.

Wealth Club chief investment strategist Susannah Streeter said: "It’s not surprising that investors are unnerved and are increasingly seeking out safer havens for their money, less reliant on the trajectory of the US economy."

"For now, it seems the only way is up for the precious metal, as unease continues spread about the potential for fresh geopolitical turmoil and a wider trade war," she said.

Oil (BZ=F, CL=F)

Concerns about the potential economic fallout of renewed geopolitical tensions also continued to weigh on oil prices on Wednesday morning.

Brent crude (BZ=F) futures declined nearly 0.9% to $64.35 per barrel at the time of writing, while West Texas Intermediate futures (CL=F) fell 0.8% to $59.86 a barrel.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Geopolitical noise is back in focus, from renewed tariff threats against Europe to tougher enforcement of Venezuelan sanctions, while expectations of rising US crude and gasoline inventories added further pressure."

"Temporary supply outages in Kazakhstan offered some offset, but with those disruptions likely short‑lived, the balance of risks for oil remains tilted to the downside for now."

Pound (GBPUSD=X, GBPEUR=X)

The pound dipped 0.3% against the dollar (GBPUSD=X) on Wednesday morning, as the latest UK inflation reading came in higher than expected.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released on Wednesday showed that the UK consumer prices index increased to 3.4% in December, up from 3.2% in November. This marked the first rise in inflation for five months and was slightly ahead of forecasts for a 3.3% increase.

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At the same time, Hargreaves Lansdown's Britzman pointed out that Wednesday's reading was "a touch below the Bank of England's forecast".

"From a market perspective, this doesn’t materially shift the narrative, with a February rate cut effectively off the table," he said. "The picture looks more encouraging in April when another cut is expected, as inflation could fall sharply towards the 2% target with regulated price increases coming in lower than last year."

In other currency moves, the pound edged 0.1% lower against the euro (GBPEUR=X) on Wednesday morning, trading at €1.1452 at the time of writing.

More broadly, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was muted in early European trading, hovering at 10,123 points. For more details on market movements check our live coverage here.

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