Gold breaks toward $4,000 as oil, yields weigh on metals
Spot gold and silver prices are sharply lower after the close Wednesday, as the May inflation report, elevated Treasury yields and renewed U.S.-Iran escalation overwhelmed residual safe-haven demand. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,078.00 an ounce, down 4.26%, while spot silver was trading at $63.605, down 2.66% on the session.
U.S. consumer prices rose 0.5% in May and were up 4.2% from a year earlier, while core CPI rose 0.2% on the month and 2.9% over 12 months. Energy prices were up 23.5% from a year earlier, with gasoline up 40.5%, keeping the inflation impulse tied directly to Middle East supply risk. The data met consensus, but it left the Fed with little room to validate the rate-cut trade that had supported gold earlier in the quarter.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the main geopolitical transmission channel into gold, oil, rates and risk assets, but the latest U.S.-Iran setup is trading as an inflation shock first and a haven shock second. The U.S. military disabled another tanker accused of moving Iranian oil, President Donald Trump said more strikes were possible and Iran-linked retaliation has kept Gulf shipping risk high. EIA’s latest outlook still assumes the strait remains effectively closed into early summer, with flows slowly resuming in the third quarter. The current market impact is direct: crude oil is higher, Treasury yields are firm, equities are lower and gold is failing to draw a durable haven bid because the inflation and real-rate channel is dominating the geopolitical bid.
U.S. equities posted a second straight decline as AI-linked shares led the selling. The S&P 500 fell 1.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.9% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.0%. Super Micro Computer fell 23.1% after announcing plans to raise $7 billion through a share sale, Nvidia dropped 3.4% and Micron Technology closed down 4.7%.
The key outside markets see Nymex WTI crude oil prices higher and trading around $88.97 a barrel, while Brent crude was near $92.29. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was higher in late trade, with no approved current DXY level included.
Technically, spot gold bulls’ next upside price objective is to push prices back above the $4,180.00 to $4,200.00 resistance zone, with a sustained move targeting $4,250.00 and then $4,350.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is a break below $4,100.00, with deeper downside targets at $4,000.00 and then $3,883.00. First resistance is seen at $4,180.00 and then at $4,200.00. First support is seen at $4,100.00 and then at $4,000.00.
Spot silver bulls’ next upside price objective is to drive prices back above the $65.00 to $66.00 resistance zone, with a move above that zone targeting $71.00 and then $72.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is a break below $63.39, with deeper downside targets at $62.00 and then $61.00. First resistance is seen at $65.00 and then at $66.00. Next support is seen at $63.39 and then at $62.00.
