Gold (GC=F) fell to around $5,300 after briefly topping $5,600 an ounce on Thursday while silver (SI=F) also pared gains as the precious metals took a breather from a blistering rally.
The decline was accompanied by a sell-off in the stock market, with the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) down as much as 2% amid declines in Microsoft (MSFT) shares. The tech giant’s quarterly earnings report unnerved investors, due to higher-than-expected capital spending and a slowdown in quarterly cloud sales growth.
A rapid rally in precious metals that stunned Wall Street faced resistance on Thursday as the U.S. dollar (DX-Y.NYB) rebounded from its lowest level since early 2022.
“The continued rise in metals, especially gold and silver, is entering a dangerous phase, in my opinion,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, on Thursday.
“The problem is volatility that feeds on itself. As price swings intensify, liquidity thins,” he added.
Gold prices were up roughly 20% year-to-date as the greenback weakened against other currencies.
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Just last week, Goldman Sachs analysts set a year-end price target of $5,400 for gold, with potential upside risk due to increased participation from private sector investors.
The precious metal rallied past $5,500 on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept rates steady, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s commentary doing little to stop the dollar’s slide.
“I see this as a sign that the levels of conviction in the Dollar-down trade are high,” Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote in a note on Thursday before the descent of gold. He noted that “the weak Dollar is supercharging the debasement trade.”
Silver hit $120 an ounce before paring gains. The precious metal is up 42% year-to-date after posting a stunning rally in 2025.
“Silver prices have already significantly exceeded our forecasted averages, although calling a top is close to impossible in markets that show near-parabolic price momentum,” JPMorgan analysts noted earlier this month.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow it on X above @ines_ferre.
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