Gold Hits One-Month High After Iran Says Hormuz ‘Completely Open’
Gold jumped to its highest level in almost a month after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” to commercial traffic, a development markets read as a step toward easing the conflict that had lifted energy prices and raised concerns about global growth.
Bullion rose as much as 2.1% before trimming gains as the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields fell. A weaker dollar and lower yields typically support gold because the metal is priced in greenbacks and offers no interest income.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X. Iranian state TV, however, cited a senior military official as saying passage is not possible without coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval forces. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said an American naval blockade remains in force until a deal is reached.
The Middle East conflict had effectively halted traffic through Hormuz — a key chokepoint for energy shipments — fueling fears that surging oil and natural gas prices would stoke inflation and push central banks to delay rate cuts or even tighten policy. That backdrop is typically negative for non-yielding commodities such as gold.
Gold has recovered part of its war-related losses in recent days as ceasefire optimism increased. Early in the conflict, a liquidity squeeze prompted investors to sell gold to cover losses elsewhere. “Gold has been trading inversely with oil and the dollar while positively correlating with risk assets since the start of the war. So any peace-related headline will inject upside momentum,” said Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at MKS PAMP SA.
Improving peace expectations have also lifted rate-cut bets, with traders pricing about 16 basis points of easing for the Federal Reserve’s December meeting, up from roughly eight at Thursday’s close. Spot gold rose 1.5% to $4,861.66 an ounce at 2:42 p.m. in New York. Silver climbed 4.2%, while platinum and palladium also advanced. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%.
Source : Newsmaker.id
