Overview
- Gold briefly fell below $4,000 on Wednesday while silver slid toward $56–$60, wiping out about 25–30% of gold’s January gains and roughly half of silver’s peak.
- The May PCE inflation gauge came in at 4.1% year‑over‑year, and markets now place roughly a 63% chance on a September Fed rate increase, which lifted the dollar and real yields and increased the cost of holding non‑yielding metals.
- Major banks including ING, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs have cut near‑term gold forecasts after the sell‑off, while UBS calls the pullback a 12‑month buying opportunity and projects gold at $5,200 an ounce over the next year.
- Silver’s fall reflects its greater sensitivity to investor sentiment despite steady industrial demand from solar and electronics, with traders watching technical support in the $45–$55 range and analysts warning of further volatility.
- Central‑bank purchases, with preliminary May buys reported in Poland and China, are cited as a structural support for bullion but near‑term direction will hinge on upcoming U.S. jobs and inflation data that could confirm further rate pressure or let metals stabilize.