Gold Pares Gains as Traders Weigh Mixed Signals on US-Iran Deal
Gold pared gains as traders assessed conflicting signals on a potential US-Iran truce, muddying the interest-rate outlook that has driven the precious metal’s recent moves.
Bullion’s advance cooled after rising as much as 2.2% when US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he’d make a “final determination” on a preliminary deal to extend a ceasefire with Iran. The New York times later reported that Trump left a two-hour meeting without making a decision. Bond yields and the dollar pared losses, weighing on gold as it pays no interest and is priced in the greenback.
The White House has sent conflicting messages on the prospects for an Iran deal, highlighting Trump’s struggles to find an off-ramp to the three-month conflict. Bullion has traded in a relatively narrow range since its initial slump at the start of the Iran war as traders weighed conflicting signals about progress toward a ceasefire. The precious metal is down around 14% since the end of February.
“Periods of rising yields or bond market volatility have tended to coincide with near-term softness in gold prices,” Andy Matthews, UBS Group AG global head of precious metals distribution wrote in a note.
Volatility in precious metals may show up less in spot prices than in the mechanics of the market itself, Matthews said, including through price dislocations between regions or across delivery dates. A fragmented global backdrop focused on regional stockpiling and localized inventories means that “availability, location, and timing become increasingly relevant to pricing,” he added.
Spot gold was 1% higher at $4,546.37 an ounce as of 3:52 p.m. in New York. Silver was little chanaged. Platinum gained while palladium slid.
Source: Newsmaker.id
