(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are modestly lower in early U.S. trading Thursday, with silver inching to another record high overnight. The markets are pausing late this week as risk aversion in the general marketplace has downticked just a bit on ideas the U.S. is now less likely to attack Iran. Also, President Trump said he won’t fire Fed Chair Powell. February gold was last down $14.10 at $4,621.50. March silver prices were down $0.36 at $91.055.
Trump says Iran government will stop killing its citizens. President Trump indicated he might hold off on attacking Iran for now after saying he was reassured by sources “on the other side” that the government in Tehran would stop killing people involved in widespread protests, according to a Bloomberg report. “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping — it’s stopped,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. He said he’d been “informed by very important sources on the other side” about the decision not to proceed with the killings, and that he would be “very upset” if the crackdown continued. Asked if military action was off the table, Trump said he would “watch it” and “see what the process is.” “But we were given a very good, very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on,” Trump said. “The comments marked a shift in tone a day after he urged Iranians to continue protests against the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and vowed to ‘act accordingly’ after being briefed on the killings of protesters. He posted on social media that ‘help is on the way,’” said Bloomberg.
Trump says he won’t fire Fed Chair Powell. President Trump insisted he does not plan to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell despite a Justice Department probe into the central bank’s renovation. “I don’t have any plan to do that,” Trump said Wednesday in an interview with Reuters and as reported by Bloomberg. Still, the president said he had not arrived at a conclusion about whether the probe would give him grounds to oust the Fed chair, saying it’s “too early” to say. “Right now, we’re (in) a little bit of a holding pattern with him, and we’re going to determine what to do. But I can’t get into it,” he said.
U.S. won’t impose tariffs on rare-earth minerals, for now. President Trump is holding off on new tariffs targeting imports of critical minerals, following a months-long review to determine whether foreign shipments threatened US national security. Trump will instead seek to negotiate agreements with foreign nations to “ensure the United States has adequate critical mineral supplies and to mitigate the supply chain vulnerabilities as quickly as possible.” The president said “it may be appropriate to impose import restrictions, such as tariffs, if satisfactory agreements are not reached in a timely manner,” said a Bloomberg report.
U.S. and Greenland will reach beneficial deal: U.S. official. The U.S. and Greenland will likely reach some kind of beneficial agreement, according to U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White, who underlined President Trump’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Bloomberg reported. “I believe there will be a productive framework between President Trump and the Prime Minister of Denmark and this will lead to a more secure Greenland,” White said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio. “And that is secure for NATO, Europe and the U.S.” His comments come after a meeting Wednesday between top diplomats from Denmark and Greenland with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance yielded no breakthrough, with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen saying a “fundamental disagreement” remained. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she’ll continue to push back against U.S. efforts to take over Greenland. The continued demands from the U.S. have sparked anger and distrust among Greenlanders and Danes, with protests planned across the major cities on Saturday.
China’s central bank leaning easier on its monetary policy. China’s central bank signaled it has room to further reduce interest rates and bank reserve requirements, while stepping up targeted support for the economy with a cut to the cost of its structural lending tools, Bloomberg reports. Deputy Governor Zou Lan said today the People’s Bank of China sees “some space” to reduce both the reserve requirement ratio and policy rates this year. The central bank will lower the interest rates on its structural monetary policy tools by 0.25 percentage points, reducing the one-year rate for various relending facilities to 1.25% from 1.5%, effective Monday. “The moves signal a commitment to use mostly targeted adjustments to bolster an economy hampered by weak demand and deep-seated imbalances. The PBOC delivered just one 10-basis-point reduction to the policy interest rate in 2025 — far less than the 40 to 60 basis points of easing many had expected,” said Bloomberg.
The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly up. Crude oil prices are sharply down and trading around $60.00 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently 4.136%.
Note: The gold market operates through two primary pricing mechanisms. The first is the spot market, which quotes prices for on-the-spot purchase and immediate delivery. The second is the futures market, which sets prices for delivery at a future date. Due to year-end positioning market liquidity, the December gold futures contract is currently the most actively traded on the CME.
Technically, February gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $4,750.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $4,400.00. First resistance is seen at Wednesday’s record high of $4,650.50 and then at $4,675.00. First support is seen at today’s low of $4,584.50 and then at $4,550.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.0.
March silver futures bulls have the strong chart advantage and their next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $100.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $80.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight record high of $93.70 and then at $94.00. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $86.125 and then at $85.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 9.5.
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