Gold prices surged more than 5% on February 3, putting the metal on course for its biggest single-day gain since November 2008, while silver also posted sharp gains as precious metals rebounded from their steepest two-day decline in decades.
Analysts said the broader uptrend remains intact and expect gold and silver to reach new record highs later this year. Spot gold rose 5.8% to $4,935.56 an ounce by 08:18 GMT. The metal had fallen to $4,403.24 on February 2, two sessions after hitting a peak of $5,594.82. U.S. gold futures for April delivery climbed 6.6% to $4,958.50 per ounce.
Bullish Outlook Remains
Gold’s rally earlier this year saw it break through multiple records and post a near-13% gain in January, its strongest monthly performance since November 2009. Silver reached an all-time high of $121.64 on January 29.
Silver also jumped 10% to $87.40 an ounce, after suffering a record one-day drop of 27% on January 30 and a further 6% decline on February 2. The sell-off followed the nomination of Kevin Warsh by U.S. President Donald Trump as the next chair of the Federal Reserve.
Markets viewed Warsh as a credible nominee, triggering a move in the dollar that ultimately punctured the surge in precious metals. The volatility was compounded after CME Group raised margin requirements on precious metal futures, contributing to last week’s sharp declines.
Policy Moves and Data Delays Add to Market Swings
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on February 2 that the closely watched January employment report would not be released this January 30 due to a partial shutdown of the federal government.
In other metals, spot platinum rose 5.7% to $2,242.55 per ounce after touching a record high of $2,918.80 on January 26, while palladium gained 5.3% to $1,811.39.
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