Gold Climbs to New Highs, Then Slides as Surging Crude and Trump's Iran Stance Weigh
Gold surged to levels not witnessed since the middle of June on Tuesday, propelled by early optimism about a pact to unlock the situation in Hormuz, only to surrender a large portion of those gains once oil reversed course and shot higher. The pullback arrived just before the US consumer price report that will guide whether the Federal Reserve delivers another rate increase.
In New York trading, Comex December futures briefly hit $4,495 an ounce, a 1.7% jump, before settling back to $4,440, trimming the advance to half a percent. Spot prices hovered near $4,395 after climbing as much as 1% earlier. The yellow metal has now erased the entire sub-$4,000 trough seen two weeks ago, buoyed by last week's jarring decline in American payrolls and a wave of official-sector purchases.
On the precious metals' broader canvas, September silver on Comex rode as high as $66.685 an ounce, its strongest since June, before crumbling to $65.035, a 0.4% decline. Spot silver dropped roughly 1%. Even with analysts forecasting a deficit throughout 2026, silver remains underwater by about 9% for the year, still nursing wounds from January's futures frenzy and the subsequent war-induced rout. Platinum barely budged, while palladium shed close to 1%.
Early headlines that Pakistan had floated a deal capable of relieving the blockade choking world energy markets proved fleeting. Crude reversed course sharply by midday, with WTI pushing back above $83 a barrel and Brent nearing $89. Should oil retreat meaningfully on a breakthrough, it would ease the impetus for the Fed to tighten monetary policy, a clear tailwind for non-interest-bearing gold. That relief didn't materialize Tuesday.
President Trump further complicated the outlook on Monday by demanding Tehran pay compensation for casualties linked to the Iranian attacks and to domestic protest victims alike, a set of conditions analysts described as non-starters for Iran.
Among gold producers, Agnico Eagle led the large-cap names with a 1.2% gain. Newmont shed 0.3% and Gold Fields lost 2.2%. Barrick Mining, off 0.5%, appointed Sebastiaan Bock to run its Rest of World business, the announcement arriving one day after shareholders hammered the stock over the $1.95 billion Fourmile transaction with Newmont. Silver equities were mixed: Coeur Mining added 0.7% while Pan American Silver finished flat.
Related assets: Gold, Silver, Palladium, Platinum