Gold Surges Past $4,100 as Fed Holds Rates Steady and Silver Struggles
Gold prices surpassed $4,100 on Thursday morning, while silver struggled to hold above $58. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the fifth consecutive meeting, which was roughly as expected.
The most consequential sentence from Wednesday's press conference came from Chair Kevin Warsh, who described his upcoming Jackson Hole speech as 'a blank piece of paper right now.' This ambiguity moved markets immediately, with JPMorgan economists pulling their rate-hike call forward to December 2026.
Despite the uncertainty, gold benefits from geopolitical uncertainty and physical demand. However, silver faces a ceiling due to the market's expectation of a potential September rate hike, which is still priced in at roughly 64% as of Thursday morning.
Central banks are continuing to purchase gold, with sovereign institutions buying at a structural clip. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, central banks purchased a net 244 tonnes of gold.