<figure id="attachment_3243581" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3243581" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3243581" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2db644e4-gold-silver-bars.jpg" alt="Gold silver bars" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3243581" class="wp-caption-text">Spot gold was down 1.7% at US$4,876.12 per ounce, while spot silver plummeted 12.4% to US$77.09 an ounce. (Unsplash pic)</figcaption></figure>
NEW YORK: Gold and silver prices fell sharply in a broader market sell-off on Thursday, as an advance in the dollar to a near two-week high and signs of easing US-China trade tensions added pressure on precious metals.
Spot gold was down 1.7% at US$4,876.12 per ounce, as of 4:02am GMT, retreating from a near one-week high hit earlier in the session.
US gold futures for April delivery were down 1.1% at US$4,896.30 per ounce.
&#8220;The dollar received a new lease of life with the Warsh nomination, and the currency has been able to keep making forward progress &#8230; traders are more circumspect now on gold in light of recent extreme volatility,&#8221; KCM&#8217;s chief trade analyst Tim Waterer said.
The dollar rose to a near two-week high on Thursday, making greenback-priced gold more expensive for other currency holders.
&#8220;Sentiment (has) turned soggy across most asset classes, including precious metals, cryptocurrencies and regional equities, with losses feeding into one another and creating a self-reinforcing feedback loop amid thin market liquidity,&#8221; said Christopher Wong, a strategist at OCBC.
Asia stocks faltered tracking their US peers as concerns about the exploding costs of AI investment hounded the tech sector.
Spot silver plummeted 12.4% to US$77.09 an ounce. Last week, the precious metal touched a record high of US$121.64.
&#8220;The industrial demand has vanished at the higher levels. Most of the industrial buyers have stopped buying silver and even solar panel producers in China are looking for alternatives,&#8221; Shah added.
On the geopolitical front, Iran and the US have agreed to hold talks in Oman on Friday, officials on both sides said. China is considering buying more US-farmed soybeans, US President Donald Trump said after what he called &#8220;very positive&#8221; talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday.
&#8220;If you remove geopolitical tensions and the de-dollarisation trend for the time being &#8230; the metals have little room to run,&#8221; said Kunal Shah, head of research at Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai.
Spot platinum slumped 7.7% to US$2,056.64 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of US$2,918.80 on Jan 26, while palladium shed nearly 5% to US$1,689.25.

MatchPoint Times

Gold, silver fall as dollar strengthens amid broad market sell-off

An advance in the dollar to a near two-week high and signs of easing US-China trade tensions added pressure on precious metals.

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