U.S. steel futures ticked lower on Thursday as traders assessed President Donald Trump's plans to impose 25% tariffs on auto imports, while gold prices extended gains to a third trading session.

HRC steel futures (HRC:COM) fell nearly 3% on Thursday, down about 5% for the week and 3.5% for the month.

Trump also floated more tariffs on the EU and Canada if they worked against the U.S.

“...it is unlikely that the U.S. tariffs  will lead to a significant increase in domestic metal production — as experience from the first Trump presidency has taught us… this led to an increase in primary aluminium production,” Thu-Lan Nguyen, Head of Commodity Research at Commerzbank AG said in a note dated March 25.

"Outside the U.S., the tariffs could even harm production in the medium term, as there is a risk of at least some U.S. demand on the global market disappearing. Initially, this may have a dampening effect on prices," she added.

Overall, Commerzbank believes that the U.S. import tariffs should have a positive price effect for the metals concerned. However, there may be a price correction, at least temporarily, as soon as the pull-forward effect on U.S. demand comes to an end, i.e. when U.S. companies import less again because their inventories are sufficiently full."

The ongoing economic uncertainty has meanwhile kept bullion supported, with gold holding steady near a record high.

Earlier this week, the U.S. announced that Russia and Ukraine had reached a ceasefire deal in the Black Sea. However, the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape is likely to keep investors nervous, ANZ Research said.

Spot gold (XAUUSD:CUR) up +0.81% to $3,045.82 an ounce.

Market sentiment remains cautious, anticipating broader economic repercussions and retaliatory measures, pushing investors towards safe bets. Barclays has revised its 2025 S&P 500 target downward from 6,600 to 5,900.

Potentially relevant tickers include (X), (NUE), (CLF), (STLD)

ETF (NYSEARCA:SLX)

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:GLD), (NYSEARCA:GDX), (GDXJ), (IAU), (NUGT), (PHYS), (GLDM), (AAAU), (SGOL), (RING), (BAR), (OUNZ), (SLV), (PSLV), (SIVR), (SIL), (SILJ)