(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are lower in early U.S. trading Monday. The metals are seeing selling pressure amid early morning rebound in the U.S. stock indexes and weaker crude oil prices that are well down from their overnight highs. Worries about rising inflation due to the Middle East war are also limiting buying interest in gold and silver. April gold was last down $38.30 at $5,022.90. May silver prices were down $1.98 at $79.375.
Latest on the war in Iran…
--Trump says Iran wants to end war; Tehran says no proposal
--Trump calls for countries to send warships to reopen Strait of Hormuz
--EU considers naval mission shift to protect Strait of Hormuz
--Iran strikes Dubai airport
--UAE’s Fujairah oil port hit again as oil loadings at key the port suspended
--Iran tests NATO’s boundaries with missiles fired at Turkey
--U.S. Energy chief signals Iran war may last several more weeks
--Oil market set for tumultuous week as Kharg attack raises stakes
--World’s central banks confront fresh inflation threat as war jolts crude oil
--U.S. calls for Americans to leave Iraq “now” as attacks mount
--Israel says Iran is firing cluster warheads aimed at civilians
--India talks with Iran to prioritize strait passage for six LPG tankers
Trump threatens delaying summit with XI, if China doesn’t help secure Strait of Hormuz. President Trump threatened to delay his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping if Beijing doesn’t help secure the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S.-Israel war stifles oil supplies and unsettles ties between the world’s biggest economies. Trump stressed China’s dependence on oil from the Middle East in an interview with the Financial Times and as reported by Bloomberg, as he reiterated a demand for Beijing to help unblock the key waterway. Trump has appealed to China to join a team effort to send ships to the strait through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes. “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump said Sunday in the FT interview.
U.S. starts to release emergency oil reserves… The Trump administration has started the process of a mammoth drawdown of the U.S. emergency oil reserve, issuing a request to exchange 86 million barrels of crude oil, Bloomberg reported. Deliveries from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, part of a massive 172 million-barrel release announced last week, are expected to begin moving to market by the end of this week, the Energy Department said in a statement Friday. The release, which is expected to take four months to complete, is part of a 400 million-barrel effort coordinated with other nations aimed at lowering crude, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices that have climbed dramatically since the U.S.-Israel invasion of Iran.
China’s economic growth improves. China's economy rebounded in early 2026 with a surprising uptick in domestic consumption and investment, but this acceleration may be hard to sustain due to the war in Iran. Industrial output climbed 6.3% in January-February from a year earlier, while retail sales rose 2.8% and fixed-asset investment expanded 1.8%, with infrastructure investment surging 11.4%. The improvement in the economy may delay the rollout of stimulus as policymakers assess the situation in the Middle East, with economists saying the likelihoods of a later reduction in policy interest rate and banks' required reserves are rising.
The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index down, with Nymex crude oil prices weaker and trading around $97.50 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently 4.265 percent.
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, April gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the March high of $5,434.10. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $4,700.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $5,039.80 and then at $5,100.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $4,970.00 and then at $4,900.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.
May silver futures bulls see their next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $90.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $72.405. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $81.66 and then at $85.00. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $77.125 and then at $76.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5
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