In Brief:
- Gold dipped below $4,500 before recovering, continuing last week’s sharp post-record correction.
- Silver remained under pressure, stabilising near $81 after last week’s historic 34% drop.
- Strong dollar, profit-taking, and repositioning drove early-week selling, with consolidation expected near $4,500–$4,800.
Precious metals extended their retreat at the start of the week, with gold and silver pushing to fresh near-term lows after last week’s violent reversal from record highs.
Gold slipped as low as $4,402 in early trade before recovering some ground, last trading around $4,705. The metal had already plunged more than 10% on Friday, breaking back below the $5,000 level after topping out just under $5,600 days earlier.
Silver remained under heavy pressure following its historic collapse late last week. Prices fell more than 12% at one stage on Monday before stabilising near $81 an ounce, after tumbling as much as 34% in the prior session.
The renewed selling came as a firmer US dollar, higher margin requirements and aggressive profit-taking continued to unwind crowded positions across metals markets. Asian equities tracked Wall Street futures lower, setting a cautious tone for a week packed with earnings, central bank meetings and key economic data.
Market positioning shifted sharply after President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, prompting a repricing in rate expectations and a broader pullback across risk and haven assets alike.
Despite the scale of the move, many analysts argue the sell-off points to positioning stress and a near-term reset rather than a deterioration in the longer-term case for gold. Structural drivers such as geopolitical uncertainty and diversification demand remain intact.
Consensus now expects gold to stabilise between $4,500 and $4,800 before attempting another push higher later in the year, with mid-year targets clustered around $5,500 to $6,000 an ounce.