Overview
- The U.S. military carried out strikes on targets in southern Iran on May 26–27 that Washington described as acts of self‑defence, an escalation that weakened diplomatic optimism and pushed investors into the dollar and government bonds.
- Global spot gold moved around the mid‑$4,500s per ounce after the strikes, with several market feeds reporting intraday falls to roughly $4,500–$4,530 before some recovery.
- Domestic markets registered sharp country‑level swings: Indian 10‑gram rates fell by roughly Rs 2,800 to about Rs 162,400 in one session and Pakistan’s one‑tola quotes moved from around Rs 477,762 to about Rs 475,362 after intraday declines.
- Silver showed larger volatility than gold, with futures tumbling in some sessions (examples include falls to about Rs 266,752/kg) as a firmer dollar and higher yields raised the opportunity cost of holding non‑yielding metals.
- Analysts say bullion is likely to stay range‑bound near current levels until further diplomatic progress or U.S. macro releases such as the PCE and GDP shift expectations for Fed policy, with ICICI projecting Indian gold in a Rs 150,000–180,000/10g band for the rest of 2026.