Iran Declares Hormuz Open, Gold Soars
Gold prices rose sharply on Friday (April 17) after Iran announced the Strait of Hormuz was now “fully open” to commercial traffic for the remainder of the ceasefire period, a development seen as a major step toward de-escalating the war with the US and Israel that had driven up energy prices and raised the risk of an economic slowdown.
Bullion briefly rose as much as 2.1% before paring some of its gains, as the US dollar and Treasury yields weakened. The combination of a weaker dollar and falling interest rates supported gold, as it is traded in dollars and carries no yield.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the opening was in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, and commercial vessels could pass through coordinated routes announced by Iranian authorities. The developments helped ease concerns that an energy shock would trigger inflation, forcing the central bank to delay interest rate cuts or even raise them—a scenario that typically weighs on non-yielding commodities like gold.
Gold has pared some of its losses in recent days as ceasefire optimism grows, but is still down nearly 8% since the Iran conflict began in late February. As of 9:37 a.m. New York time, spot gold was up 1.6% at US$4,864.51/oz. Silver jumped 5%, while platinum and palladium also gained. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%. (Arl)*
Source: Newsmaker.id
