Gold prices maintained a downward trend as progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz remained unclear, further raising concerns about inflation and strengthening expectations that major central banks could maintain a more cautious monetary policy.
In the morning trading session in Asia, gold prices traded around 4,470 USD/ounce after falling nearly 2% in the session on May 19.
Inflationary pressure related to the Iranian conflict has followed a wave of sell-offs in the global bond market. The yield of 30-year US Treasury bonds has now risen to the highest level since the period before the 2007 global financial crisis.
US President Donald Trump said Washington could resume attacks on Iran in the coming days as part of efforts to put pressure to end the conflict, just one day after he announced he had postponed the previous military plan.
Meanwhile, the US Senate controlled by the Republican Party also signaled its disapproval of expanding tensions in the Middle East through a procedural vote held on Tuesday.
High energy prices are increasing concerns about global inflation, causing markets to assess that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and many other central banks may have to maintain high interest rates for longer instead of early cuts as expected before the US-Israel conflict with Iran escalates.
High interest rates are often detrimental to gold because this precious metal does not generate profits.
The gold market is currently still fluctuating in a narrow range since the sharp decline in the early stages of the conflict. Inflation concerns once put great pressure on gold, although the market also has expectations that central banks may have to ease policies if economic growth weakens more strongly.
Since the war broke out, gold prices have now decreased by about 15%.
Meanwhile, silver prices once fell sharply by about 5% in the first session of the week as the market worried about rising inflation. Previously, silver had risen to nearly 90 USD/ounce thanks to expectations related to AI stocks and demand for metals serving data center infrastructure.
Currently, silver has decreased by about 21% since February 27.
As of 8:39 am Vietnam time, spot gold price decreased by 1.9% to 4,467.21 USD/ounce. Silver price increased slightly by 0.2% to 73.89 USD/ounce. Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index – a measure of the strength of the USD – increased by 0.4% in the previous session.
