World silver prices reached 84.43 USD/ounce at the same time, up nearly 9% and hitting their highest level in more than a week.
Some analysts believe that escalating tensions between the US and Iran after President Donald Trump announced on February 20 that he is considering limited attacks, contributed to pushing gold and silver prices up. In the context of increasing global instability, demand for safe haven assets usually increases sharply.
Abdelaziz Albogdady - Market Research Director at FXEM - said that the risk of an attack on Iran "is continuing to add more geopolitical risk compensation to the global market", thereby supporting gold and silver prices to rise.
US economic data released on the morning of February 20 also contributed to pushing precious metal prices up. US GDP in the fourth quarter of 2025 only increased by 1.4%, lower than expected, while the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index increased by 0.4%, showing that inflation is still high.
Senior market strategist at RJO Futures - Bob Haberkorn - said that these data show that the economy is "close to a turning point", while there are still "many unclear and uncertain factors surrounding the US economy", thereby supporting gold prices.
On February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump was not authorized to impose broad tariffs on almost all countries last summer.
Mr. Trump then announced a 10% global tariff through an executive order, but these tariffs would only be effective for 150 days if not extended by the US Congress.
Some analysts believe that the abolition of tariffs may cause gold and silver prices to fall, because the tax rates and related uncertainty were factors that pushed metal prices up sharply in 2025. However, the instability surrounding the consequences of the ruling is contributing to supporting metal prices to increase.
Metal trader Tai Wong told Reuters that the US president is likely to seek to restore tariffs through other laws, which could increase market volatility.
Global commodity strategy head at TD Securities Bart Melek told Bloomberg that the ruling could force the government to repay more than $175 billion to importers, putting pressure on the budget. This could raise speculation that monetary instruments will have to be used to finance the government, opening up the possibility of future interest rate cuts - a factor that could push metal prices up.
World gold and silver prices have experienced several weeks of strong fluctuations after hitting record levels of over 5,600 USD/ounce and 120 USD/ounce at the end of January.
This historic price increase is driven by geopolitical tensions, including issues related to Venezuela and Iran, President Trump's tariff policy, and federal interest rate cuts.
However, gold and silver prices fell after Mr. Trump nominated Kevin Warsh for the position of Chairman of the US Federal Reserve at the end of January.
Since then, gold and silver prices have continuously fluctuated, including a 10% drop in silver prices last week.
Metals Daily CEO Ross Norman said that this volatility makes the metal market "more like a casino than a market". Saxo Bank analysts predict silver may continue to trade with strong fluctuations in both directions.
