Why gold and silver are down for a third day in a row
Why gold and silver are down for a third day in a row
Gold and silver traded sharply lower Thursday, extending losses into a third straight session a day after minutes from the Federal Reserve showed that some policymakers were willing to raise interest rates if needed to fight inflation.
The Fed officials at the May meeting expressed dismay about “disappointing” inflation readings, saying the most recent data “pointed to more persistence in inflation in coming months,” the Fed minutes showed.
Following the release of the minutes, “traders moved to price in November as the more likely timing for the first Fed rate cut, driving higher Treasury yields and a stronger dollar which caused losses for the non-yielding precious metal,” Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades, said in market commentary.
Read: What record highs for gold, silver and copper are saying about the economy
On Comex Thursday, gold for June delivery lost $42.20, or 1.8%, to $2,350.70 an ounce. Prices for the most active contract were on track to post their largest daily percentage loss since April 30 and poised to settle at their lowest since May 13, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Gold had marked a fresh record high settlement on May 20 at $2,438.50.
Read: Gold and copper are breaking records. Silver is at an 11-year high. But the narratives vary.
July silver was down 8.26 cents, or 2.6%, at $30.67 an ounce, eyeing its lowest finish in a week.
Silver prices, however, were still up around 14% month to date, which would be the best monthly rise since March 2023. Prices touched a high at $32.75 on Monday, the highest intraday level for a most-active contract since late January 2013.
Also see: Missed the gold and silver rally? Metal mining stocks may be a way to catch up.
“Gold’s uptrend remains intact, but the risk of a more-pronounced pullback near term have risen given the uptick in volatility in the yellow metal,” analysts at Sevens Report Research wrote in Thursday’s newsletter.