Gold prices in the UAE surged on Monday morning, extending their recent rally and reflecting a sharp global shift toward safe-haven assets following escalating conflict in the Middle East. The 24-karat rate climbed to Dh646.45 per gram at 8.43 am on March 2, up from Dh636 a day earlier, while the 22-karat variety rose to Dh592.58 compared with Dh589 previously. (Check latest UAE gold prices here, alongside prices in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and India.)

This move marked one of the strongest single-day gains in recent weeks. It pushed local bullion back toward levels last seen during previous periods of geopolitical stress, signalling a renewed wave of risk aversion among investors and buyers.

Steady climb through February

Gold’s rise did not begin overnight. The market has been building momentum for weeks, driven by a mix of global economic uncertainty, strong central bank demand, and shifting investment flows. Local price trends illustrate how steadily the rally gathered pace.

At the start of February, 24-karat gold traded near Dh564 per gram. Prices moved gradually higher throughout the month, crossing Dh600 by mid-February before accelerating sharply in the final week. By February 27, the rate had already reached Dh629.50, and within days it surged above Dh646.

The pattern shows how gold’s trajectory has been shaped by both long-term structural demand and short-term geopolitical shocks, with the latest escalation acting as a catalyst rather than the sole driver.

War tensions trigger global surge

The immediate trigger behind Monday’s spike was a sharp deterioration in regional stability over the weekend. Military strikes and retaliatory attacks involving multiple countries intensified fears of wider conflict, pushing investors toward traditional safe-haven assets.

Global bullion prices jumped sharply in early trading, rising more than 2% before moderating later in the session. Investors responded quickly to heightened risk perceptions, shifting funds away from equities and currencies into gold, which historically performs well during periods of uncertainty.

Energy markets mirrored this reaction. Oil prices surged strongly at the open on Monday, reflecting concerns over potential supply disruptions, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy corridors. The simultaneous rise in oil and gold heightened systemic risk across global markets.

Structural drivers remain intact

Even before the latest conflict, gold had been on a sustained upward trend throughout the year. The metal has gained roughly a quarter so far in 2026, supported by persistent central bank purchases, ongoing diversification away from sovereign bonds, and continued investor demand for inflation protection

GN

Nvidia just reported its 11th straight quarter of revenue growth above 55% as the leading tech names keep snapping up the company’s AI chips. Already the world’s most valuable public company, growth is now reaccelerating.

In its earnings report Wednesday, Nvidia said year-over-year revenue will surge about 77% this quarter to roughly $78 billion. That would mark the fastest growth rate for any period since the quarter ending January 2025, when expansion came in slightly higher at 78%. Its forecast sailed past the $72.6 billion average analyst estimate, according to LSEG.

Revenue in the fourth quarter jumped 73%, also topping estimates, following expansion of 62% in the prior period. The data center business, home to Nvidia’s AI graphics processing units, now accounts for over 91% of sales.

The chipmaker’s optimistic outlook comes as the company ramps production of Vera Rubin, its next rack-scale system for AI that will succeed Grace Blackwell. Nvidia says the system’s 72 next-generation Rubin graphics processing units (GPUs) are expected to deliver 10 times more performance per watt, compared to their predecessors.

Finance chief Colette Kress said on the earnings call after the report that the company shipped its “first Vera Rubin samples to customers earlier this week,” and that Nvidia expects every model builder and cloud provider to eventually deploy the system. She said the company now expects growth this year to exceed what was included in the company’s projection last year for a $500 billion revenue opportunity between Blackwell and Rubin.

“We believe we have inventory and supply commitments in place to address future demand, including shipments extending into calendar 2027,” Kress said.

Nvidia’s shares were little changed in extended trading after initially popping, reflecting investors’ lofty expectations for the company, which is valued at almost $5 trillion thanks to its dominance in AI processors.

There’s competition on the horizon, as smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices is set to release Helios, its first rack-scale system for AI, later this year. Earlier this week, Meta committed to deploying up to 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs, with Helios shipments starting in 2026.

Nvidia also faces challenges from some of its biggest customers — namely Amazon and Google — making in-house AI chips to power their data centers. In its annual filing, Nvidia said a potential risk to future results is that “customers develop their own internal solution.”

Looking beyond fiscal 2027, growth is expected to slow dramatically, from 63% this year to 30%, 11.5% and 3% in the three subsequent years, according to LSEG.

‘Compute equals revenue’

But for now, Nvidia’s growth is far outpacing any of its competitors or peers as tech giants and AI model developers race to build out their infrastructure to meet soaring demand.

“In this new world of AI, compute equals revenues,” CEO Jensen Huang said on Wednesday’s earnings call. He repeated the phrase and variations of it several times during the call, in reference to the speedy adoption of agentic AI, which goes beyond early generative AI by allowing businesses to create and run applications with text prompts.

Anthropic’s Claude Cowork has quickly taken off in the enterprise by plugging into more applications. And earlier this month, OpenAI hired OpenClaw developer Peter Steinberger after his tool surged in popularity by automating tasks such as managing emails and calendars, browsing the web and interacting with online services.

“Between Claude Cowork and OpenClaw, compute demand is skyrocketing, and the ChatGPT moment of agentic AI has arrived,” Huang said on the call.

Not included in Nvidia’s first-quarter forecast is any potential data center revenue from China. A lack of clarity around export controls has kept Nvidia from selling into the world’s second-largest economy, even after President Donald Trump said in January that his administration would approve China sales of Nvidia’s H200 chip, with the U.S. government taking 25% of sales.

Huang said in May that China’s AI market would likely reach about $50 billion within two to three years, and that missing out on it would be a “tremendous loss.” It’s an opportunity that hasn’t yet opened up.

“While small amounts of H200 products for China-based customers were approved by the U.S. government, we have yet to generate any revenue and we do not know whether any imports will be allowed into China,” Kress said on the call. “We are not assuming any data center compute revenue from China in our outlook.”

CNBC

EU says it will accept no increase in US tariffs after Supreme Court ruling: ‘a deal is a deal.’

The European Commission demanded on Sunday, February 22, 2026, that the United States stick to the terms of an EU-U.S. trade deal reached last year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump’s global tariffs and he responded with new levies across the board.

After the court struck down Trump’s global tariffs on Friday, the U.S. president announced temporary, across-the-board tariffs of 10%, which he then hiked to 15% a day later.

The Commission, which negotiates trade policy on behalf of the 27 EU member states, said Washington must provide “full clarity” on the steps it intends to take following the court ruling.

“The current situation is not conducive to delivering ‘fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial’ transatlantic trade and investment, as agreed to by both sides” in the joint statement setting out the terms of last year’s trade agreement, the Commission said. “A deal is a deal.”

The comments were far more strongly worded than the Commission’s initial response on Friday, which had said only that it was studying the outcome of the Supreme Court decision and keeping in contact with the U.S. administration.

Last year’s trade deal set a 15% U.S. tariff rate for most EU goods, apart from those covered by other sectoral tariffs such as on steel. 

It also allowed zero tariffs on some products such as aircraft and spare parts. 

The EU agreed to remove import duties on many U.S. goods and withdrew a threat to retaliate with higher levies.

“In particular, EU products must continue to benefit from the most competitive treatment, with no increases in tariffs beyond the clear and all-inclusive ceiling previously agreed,” the EU executive said, adding that unpredictable tariffs were disruptive and undermined confidence across global markets.

It said that EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic had discussed the issue with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Saturday,February 21,2026.

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