Gold, silver slide as rate risk overwhelms haven demand
Spot gold and silver prices are sharply lower after the close Tuesday, as rate-hike expectations and a bearish technical break outweighed weaker crude oil and residual safe-haven demand tied to the Strait of Hormuz. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,259.50 an ounce, down 1.64%, while spot silver was trading at $65.335, down 4.17% on the session.
The metals selloff extended Friday’s post-payrolls breakdown. Gold traded to a session low of $4,236.40, while silver fell to $64.25, leaving both markets below last week’s key chart levels before Wednesday’s May consumer price index. The CPI report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, with producer prices due Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the main geopolitical transmission channel into gold, oil, rates and risk assets, but the latest U.S.-Iran news is being traded as escalation risk with a negotiation overlay, not a clean supply-shock bid. The U.S. blamed Iran for the downing of an Apache helicopter near the strait, said both crew members were rescued and signaled that Washington must respond. At the same time, the White House continued to frame a possible Iran deal as close, while EIA’s latest outlook says the de facto closure of Hormuz has now surpassed three months and assumes limited flows until early summer, with a slow resumption starting in the third quarter.
The immediate market impact is uneven: oil prices are lower as traders discount a wider rupture, Treasury yields eased with crude, equities were mixed as AI shares reversed lower and gold failed to draw a durable haven bid because the market is still anchored to the Fed and real-rate channel.
U.S. equities finished mixed after an early advance reversed in high-flying AI shares. The S&P 500 fell 19.08 points, or 0.3%, to 7,386.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86.10 points, or 0.2%, to 50,872.11. The Nasdaq Composite fell 250.84 points, or 1.0%, to 25,678.82. The Russell 2000 rose 11.60 points, or 0.4%, to 2,867.02.
The key outside markets see Nymex WTI crude oil prices lower, while Brent crude futures were near $93.22 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is softer. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged lower in late trade, with no approved current level included.
Technically, spot gold bulls’ next upside price objective is to push prices back above the $4,350.00 to $4,370.00 resistance zone, with a sustained move targeting $4,442.00 and then $4,546.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is a break below $4,250.00, with deeper downside targets at the $4,180.00 to $4,200.00 support zone and then $4,097.00. First resistance is seen at $4,350.00 and then at $4,370.00. First support is seen at $4,250.00 and then at $4,200.00.
Spot silver bulls’ next upside price objective is to drive prices back above the $71.00 to $72.00 resistance zone, with a move above that zone targeting the 50-day moving average at $76.02 and then $78.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is a break below the $65.00 to $66.00 support zone, with deeper downside targets at $62.00 and then $61.00. First resistance is seen at $71.00 and then at $72.00. Next support is seen at $66.00 and then at $65.00.
