Precious Metals Under Pressure
Gold and silver prices dropped sharply on Monday, as climbing global bond yields dampened investor interest in non-yielding assets such as precious metals. The decline also pushed major mining stocks lower in premarket trading. Gold futures fell 3.34% to $4,176.80, while spot gold was down 3.27% at $4,145.88 around 5:40 a.m. ET. Silver suffered even larger losses: futures were 5.1% lower at $61.52 per troy ounce, and spot silver shed 4.92% to $61.11.[S1]
Mining Stocks Follow Metals Lower
Before Monday's opening bell, U.S.-traded stocks of gold and silver producers around the world moved lower, tracking weakness in the underlying metals. Sibanye Stillwater, which mines gold on a large scale and also has platinum and palladium operations, dropped 7.92%, and Harmony Gold Mining lost 7.49%. Newmont Corporation traded 4.72% lower premarket. On the silver side, Silvercorp Metals declined 7.13%, Endeavour Silver gave up 5.86%, and Hecla Mining eased 5.55%.[S1]
Inflation and Fed Policy in Focus
The pullback reflects investor attention on inflation trends and the prospect of additional Federal Reserve rate increases, set against a sharp climb in government bond yields. Max Baecker, president of American Hartford Gold, wrote Friday that tighter policy could keep gold under pressure if it tames inflation, whereas persistent inflation or economic strain would sustain gold's appeal as a diversifier. Baecker also said rates are only part of the picture, pointing to record central bank purchases of 289 metric tons in the second quarter as a longer-term reserve strategy independent of Fed decisions.[S1]
