Waller Comments Send Gold, Silver Prices Soaring on Thursday

Spot gold and silver prices rose sharply in late-afternoon U.S. trading Thursday after Fed Governor Christopher Waller's less-hawkish rate comments.

The comments led to a decline in Treasury yields, a weaker dollar, and higher precious metals prices. Spot gold was trading near $4,471.10 an ounce, up 1.92%, while spot silver was at $66.830, up 2.49% on the session.

The U.S. economy's inflation data will be released next week, and Waller said he would keep rates unchanged if it continues to cool. This led to a decrease in September hike odds from 63.2% to about 50.4%, while the two-year Treasury yield slid to 4.34% and the 10-year yield dropped to 4.77%.

The services data showed that the ISM services index rose to 55.4 in August, but prices paid climbed to 72.6, the highest reading since October 2022, indicating that inflation remains a concern.