Topline
Gold and silver rose Friday in the latest sign of recovery from a late January crash, reaching their highest points of February as nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran lag with no agreement yet in sight.
Key Facts
Gold futures edged up 1.3% just above the $5,260 mark while silver spiked 7.6% past the $94.25 mark Friday shortly after 1 p.m. EST.
Spot prices followed suit, with gold up just over 1%, nearing an all-time high recorded before it slumped in January, and silver up 7.2%.
Silver is still well away from the all-time high it recorded last month, when it reached over $120.
The metal rally continued a day after U.S.-Iran nuclear talks did not result in a deal, though the two sides agreed to extend negotiations as President Donald Trump mulls military strikes against Iran.
The metals surged as the U.S. dollar index fell nearly 0.2% to $97.64, maintaining a plateau that has held since mid-February.
How Are U.s.-Iran Nuclear Negotiations Going?
“Positive,” according to an unnamed senior U.S. official who spoke to Axios, which reported Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi, a mediator in the negotiations, said the talks have shown “significant progress.” Al Busaidi is meeting with Vice President JD Vance and other U.S. officials in Washington on Friday, with negotiations slated to continue next week. Trump said in his State of the Union address this week Iran wants “to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Key Background
Gold and silver prices tanked in late January after Kevin Warsh was nominated as Federal Reserve chair, sending the U.S. dollar surging as Trump’s pick suggested a disciplined approach to potentially lowering interest rates, despite the president publicly pressing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to aggressively cut rates. Spot silver prices fell 33% to $77 while gold prices tumbled 12% to $4,722. Krishna Guha, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said the day of the crash that Warsh’s nomination could stabilize the dollar and reduce “deep extended dollar weakness.” Precious metals have largely risen in the last year as the Trump administration has sparked geopolitical tensions through military threats against Iran, the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Trump’s push to annex Greenland. The president’s administration did not rule out military action against the NATO ally, which is a self-governed territory under Denmark.
Further Reading
Gold And Silver Prices Plummet After Trump’s Fed Chair Pick (Forbes)
Silver Breaks $90 Mark Again—Fueled By Tariff Uncertainty, Iran Tensions (Forbes)
