Metals from gold to copper sank in a broad selloff in financial markets amid investor concerns that a war-driven surge in inflation may force global central banks to raise borrowing costs and drag down economic growth.
Bullion fell as much as 3% to under $4,520 an ounce, on pace for a roughly 3.3% weekly decline. Bond yields rose across the globe as doubts mounted over how quickly Middle East oil supplies can return to normal, while the dollar headed for its longest run of gains since March. That’s putting pressure on commodities as they’re priced in the greenback. Higher borrowing costs tend to cool the economy and weaken demand for metals like copper.
The broad retreat in bond markets also dragged stocks lower, putting a sudden halt to the artificial intelligence-fueled equity rally that has helped boost industrial metals like copper. The red metal fell 2.8% while silver, which has traded in close tandem with copper, also reversed strong gains from earlier in the week and fell as much as 9.3%.
The Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for energy flows, remains effectively closed with efforts to end the Iran war in limbo, prolonging the energy crisis and keeping inflation concerns high. Data this week from the US and Japan showed accelerating price pressures while oil headed for a weekly gain.
“Inflation expectations, higher yields and a stronger dollar are likely to keep gold under pressure in the near term,” ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. analysts Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari wrote in a note. ANZ deferred its $6,000 an ounce target to mid-2027 from early next year.
Gold has traded in a fairly narrow range since falling sharply in the early days of the war as investors assess inflation risks that could keep rates higher and growth concerns that could prompt monetary easing as the conflict drags on. Bullion is down more than 13% since the war started.
Spot gold fell 2.1% to $4,555.95 an ounce as of 2:36 p.m. in New York. Silver plunged 8.1% to $76.77 an ounce. Platinum and palladium also retreated. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was 0.4% higher.
By – https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/commodities/articles/gold-silver-fall-us-inflation-084649785.html