On COMEX, gold was last at $4,546.80 per ounce, up $13.50 or 0.30%. Silver stood at $73.30 per ounce, down $0.22 or 0.30%.
Oil prices held near recent highs, with Brent crude around $114 per barrel after a sharp rise in the previous session, while West Texas Intermediate traded below $105 per barrel. The gains followed escalating tensions in West Asia, including fresh hostilities involving the US and Iran and disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit route.
Analysts said elevated crude prices are reinforcing inflation concerns and could keep interest rates higher for longer, weighing on non-yielding assets like gold and silver.
Kaynat Chainwala, AVP – Commodity Research at Kotak Securities said that higher energy costs may prompt central banks to maintain a tighter policy stance, limiting upside in precious metals.
Chainwala noted that both metals had recently slipped to near one-month lows amid a hawkish US Federal Reserve outlook, with rate cuts being priced out in the near term. However, she pointed to intermittent rebounds driven by diplomatic signals and short-covering.
Separately, Prithviraj Kothari, Managing Director at RiddiSiddhi Bullions Ltd., said a “hawkish Fed–oil–inflation feedback loop” has been weighing on bullion despite ongoing geopolitical risks.
“Near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz has stoked inflation fears, which has paradoxically pressured gold even as geopolitical tensions remain elevated,” Kothari said. He added that structural factors such as central bank buying and ETF inflows continue to provide underlying support to prices.
A
ccording to analysts, gold is expected to trade in the range of $4,500–$4,850 per ounce in the near term, while silver may move between $71 and $80 per ounce, with volatility likely to persist amid evolving geopolitical and macroeconomic cues.
–With agencies inputs
