Oil prices extended their gains on Tuesday after threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose secondary tariffs on Russian crude and attack Iran, while gold (XAUUSD:CUR) hit yet another record high.

Brent futures (CO1:COM) +0.50% to $75.14 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (CL1:COM) +0.51% to $71.84.

The markets wrapped up a rough March and the first quarter amid Trump’s fast-evolving tariff policy. Both benchmarks are trading in negative territory on a YTD basis.

Trump's threat to impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian crude oil has reportedly pushed Indian refiners to seek non-Russian supplies from the spot market to reduce their reliance on the OPEC+ member. 

Russia has been India’s top oil import source during April-December 2024, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Oil also tops the list of India’s merchandise imports by value, and oil prices impact various aspects of the country’s economy.

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Gold prices (XAUUSD:CUR), meanwhile, scaled another record high, up ~20% so far this year, driven by safe-haven demand.

Spot gold rose 0.3% to $3,132.37 an ounce on Tuesday, after hitting a record high of $3,148.88 earlier.

Overall in commodities, mixed activities were seen across the different sectors during the week ending Tuesday, 25 March 2025, Saxo Bank said.

The major changes made by hedge funds were continued buying of energy, led by Brent and diesel, and profit-taking across precious metals in response to a temporary recovery in the dollar and stocks.

Copper’s arbitrage-driven rally boosted the net long while aggressive and broad selling of the grain market continued ahead of key planting and stock reports from the USDA, the brokerage said.

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