(Kitco NewsWire) - Spot gold and silver prices are sharply lower in late-afternoon U.S. trading Friday, after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh used his Jackson Hole speech to reinforce the central bank’s inflation fight, lifting short-end yields, firming the U.S. dollar and forcing a heavy unwind in precious metals. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,456.00 an ounce, down 3.14%, while spot silver was trading at $66.210, down 4.24% on the session.
North American equity markets closed lower, though the major indexes still posted weekly gains. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 7,711.76, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down less than 0.1% at 53,559.99, the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.5% to 26,402.42 and the Russell 2000 dropped 1.4% to 2,972.37. European markets finished higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 up 0.51% to 655.16, London’s FTSE 100 up 0.29% to 10,824.26, Germany’s DAX up 0.77% to 26,569.99, France’s CAC 40 up 0.98% to 8,401.18 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 0.67% to 52,616.12.
The latest positioning shifted sharply toward a more hawkish Fed path after Warsh’s speech and the Labor Department’s payroll benchmark revision. Warsh said the Fed’s job is to deliver stable prices and signaled that persistent inflation remains the dominant risk, while the preliminary benchmark revision showed March 2026 payrolls were overstated by 79,000 jobs, far smaller than the large downward adjustment some traders had feared. September hike odds jumped to 57.5% from 35.9%, the two-year Treasury yield rose 11.8 basis points to 4.348% and the dollar index gained 0.5% on the day. For gold, the signal was clean: the labor-data revision did not deliver the dovish shock bulls needed, and Warsh’s tone pushed the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding metals back to the center of the trade.
Precious metals were the clear casualty of the rate repricing. Gold fell through its 200-day moving average at $4,526.24, slipped below the $4,481.78 bear-market threshold cited in the latest technical work and tested its $4,504.07 to $4,458.52 retracement zone. Silver’s $70 breakout failed, with the metal sliding through $69.96, $69.50 and $67.69 before stabilizing above the $66.00 session low. The move leaves silver’s breakout structure damaged but not fully broken, while gold’s break below the 200-day average makes the next few sessions a test of whether the selloff is a Warsh-driven flush or the start of a broader technical reset.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the main geopolitical channel into oil, inflation expectations and defensive demand, but Friday’s market impact came through easing supply fears rather than a fresh crude spike. Oil fell as traders assessed rumors of a possible shipping agreement through the strait and signs that more crude is moving despite the six-month U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Seven commodity vessels transited Hormuz Thursday, down from 17 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of 15, while front-month Brent settled at $89.31 a barrel and Nymex crude was near $83.18. For gold, that left less geopolitical offset against the hawkish Fed shock: lower oil eased part of the inflation premium, but the unresolved Iran conflict and sanctions risk kept a defensive bid in the background.
The key outside markets see Nymex WTI crude oil prices lower and trading around $83.18 a barrel, while Brent crude was near $89.31. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is trading near the 4.7% area. The U.S. dollar index is firmer. (Kitco Global Index shows how much of today's gold move is the dollar versus the gold market itself.)
Technically, spot gold bulls' next upside price objective is to push prices back above the $4,504.07 resistance level, with a sustained move targeting $4,526.24 and then $4,604.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is a break below $4,458.52, with deeper downside targets at $4,319.60 and then $4,230.51. First resistance is seen at $4,504.07 and then at $4,526.24. First support is seen at $4,458.52 and then at $4,319.60.
Spot silver bulls' next upside price objective is to drive prices back above $67.69, with a move above that level targeting $69.50 and then $69.96. The next downside price objective for the bears is a break below $66.00, with deeper downside targets at $65.66 and then $64.20. First resistance is seen at $67.69 and then at $69.50. Next support is seen at $66.00 and then at $65.66.
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