Gold and silver plunge deepens after Friday's losses

4 weeks ago 13

Bloomberg via Getty Images One kilogram and a five hundred gram gold bars next to one kilogram silver bars at The Vaults Group gold dealers.Bloomberg via Getty Images

Gold and silver prices have continued to fall after a dramatic reversal of a rally that had pushed precious metals to record highs.

In Asia trade on Monday, spot gold prices fell more than 9% to $4,403 (£3,222) an ounce, while silver slumped by 15% to less than $72 an ounce.

Prices hit fresh records in January after central banks added more bullion to their reserves and investors put money into safe haven assets due to financial and geopolitical uncertainties.

Markets were also worried about the independence of the US Federal Reserve but precious metals prices retreated on Friday after President Donald Trump nominated former central bank governor Kevin Warsh as its new chair.

Asian stocks also fell, with South Korea's benchmark Kospi leading losses as it dropped by more than 5%. Elsewhere in the region, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 3% and Japan's Nikkei 225 was more than 1% lower.

In global energy markets, the price of crude oil fell more than 5% after major oil producers agreed to keep output unchanged.

With financial markets spooked by concerns including Trump's tariffs and fears that artificial intelligence-related stocks were overpriced, gold and silver repeatedly hit new record highs.

Wall Street analysts expect the Fed to cut interest rate at least twice in 2026. Gold tends to be seen as a more attractive investment when interest rates are low.

One of the biggest appeals of gold is its relative scarcity. Only around 216,265 tonnes of the metal have ever been mined, according to the World Gold Council trade association.

While economic worries can help push up the value of gold, prices can just as easily fall when those concerns ease or investors feel the gains have been overdone.

On Friday spot gold saw its sharpest one-day drop since 1983 with a fall of more than 9%, while silver plunged 27%.


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