Gold, Silver Plummet Amid Rising Yields and Dollar Strength
Gold and silver prices tumbled in early trade on September 2 due to rising US Treasury yields, a stronger dollar, and growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike. On COMEX, gold futures fell by 0.98% to $4,353.10 an ounce after touching an intraday low of $4,350.10.
Silver futures dropped 1.80% to $64.19 an ounce and hit a low of $64.15 an ounce. The weakness in precious metals comes amid a broader risk-off move in global markets, with Asian stocks plummeting after renewed US strikes on Iran pushed oil prices higher.
The Brent crude price rose 0.7% to $95.34 a barrel, reviving concerns about inflation and making it harder for the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy. US 10-year Treasury yields were around 4.80%, while the dollar index remained near a two-week high of 99.67.
Markets are reassessing the Fed's interest-rate outlook, with traders pricing in a 67% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike at the September 16 meeting, up from 39.6% a week earlier. The renewed escalation between the US and Iran has added another layer of uncertainty.
Gold and silver have extended their recent losses, with gold falling ₹8,900 (about 5.3%) from ₹1.67 lakh per 10 grams on August 25. Silver also declined ₹5,000 to ₹2.40 lakh per kg in global markets, where spot gold fell about 2% to $4,368.58 an ounce and silver declined nearly 3% to around $64.68 an ounce.