(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are lower in early U.S. trading Monday, the failed weekend peace talks between the U.S. and Iran have reignited worries about problematic inflation weighing on global demand for gold and silver. June gold was last down $43.00 at $4,744.10. May silver prices were down $2.13 at $74.35.
Latest on the war in the Middle East…
- Fragile ceasefire between U.S., Iran appears to be holding, for now
- U.S. blockade from 10 a.m. ET Monday of all maritime traffic entering, exiting Iran ports
- Iran rejects U.S. restrictions on shipping and threatens ports in the Persian Gulf
- Iran-U.S. talks broke down over U.S.’s “shifting goalposts,” Iran says
- Brent, WTI rise sharply; European gas futures spike; Asian stocks, U.S. futures decline
- Saudi Arabia says east-west oil pipeline restored to full capacity
- “A Panicked Race for Barrels Grips the Global Oil Market,” reads Bloomberg headline
- U.S. intelligence shows China set to supply Iran arms, CNN reports
President Trump said the U.S. would blockade the Strait of Hormuz following the collapse of peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this past weekend. “Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a social media post and as reported by Bloomberg. Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner left the region Sunday after 21 hours of negotiations with top Iranian officials, mediated by Pakistan in an effort to end the six-week-old war. The talks’ collapse left the ceasefire agreed upon last week in limbo and Trump’s post signals more peril for the deal. Iran’s semi-official media cited “excessive” U.S. demands, while the foreign ministry said it was natural that differences wouldn’t be resolved in a single round of talks, leaving the door open for more discussions.
After the war, prices will remain elevated for a while: IMF chief. Global prices will take time to come down to levels seen before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran even if a ceasefire holds, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said and as reported by Bloomberg. “It will take some time, yes, and it will take more time for locations that are experiencing higher degree of disruption,” Georgieva said in comments aired Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation ahead of this week’s spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. “That’s why we need to remember the asymmetry of this shock.” Georgieva reiterated that the IMF will lower its global growth forecast as a result of the war in Iran. “We are going to have a downgrade, and the size of this downgrade will depend on these
two things, duration and speed with which everything can come back to the same level of production that we had before,” she said.
The key outside markets see Nymex WTI crude strongly higher and trading around $104.50 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently 4.35 percent.
Technically, June gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $5,000.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $4,500.00. First resistance is seen at $4,800.00 and then at last week’s high of $4,888.00. First support is seen at $4,700.00 and then at the overnight low of $4,626.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.
May silver futures bulls see their next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $80.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the March low of $61.21. First resistance is seen at this last high of $77.80 and then at $80.00. Next support is seen at $72.50 and then at last week’s low of $69.78. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5.
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