Precious Metals Price Update: Gold, Silver, PGMs Stage Recovery After Crash

Gold price

After hitting a record high of close to US$5,600 per ounce, gold closed out January by embarking on one of the biggest price slides it's seen in decades. By early morning trading on Monday (February 2), the yellow metal had dropped as low as US$4,400 for a significant loss of more than 21 percent.

However, gold regained much of that lost ground by Tuesday’s (February 3) close, trading back above US$4,935. By Wednesday (February 4) morning, gold was once again back above the key psychological US$5,000 mark, although it couldn’t maintain that level for long and slipped back down into the US$4,900 range.

The primary drivers for gold this past week are:

• US President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as the next Federal Reserve chair. Thought of as a monetary policy hawk, Warsh isn’t expected to make policy decisions based on the vibe coming out of the White House.

• With the threat of a wild west in interest rate cuts off the table, the US dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies. This led to a drop in demand for gold as holding the yellow metal, typically priced in US dollars, became a more expensive prospect among foreign buyers.

• Gold at record levels was also bound to lead profit taking for those who bought in at much lower prices. Last week's slide was also made worse by higher margin requirements on futures exchanges, leading to forced liquidations. That condition has since abated, bringing buyers back into the market.

• Giving gold safe-haven appeal was Tuesday’s escalation in the US-Iran conflict. US forces shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone approaching a US aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

Silver price

The silver price has tracked gold on these macro trends. The white metal fell from the all-time high of more than US$120 per ounce that it reached on January 29 to a low of about US$71 on Monday.

Although silver lost 35 percent from its peak in such a short time, the precious metal has rebounded to an intraday high of US$92.32 as its fundamentals remain strong.

Platinum price

Platinum tracked its precious metal sisters down from a January 29 high of US$2,816 per ounce to as low as US$1,882. By Tuesday, the metal was back above US$2,200 and has traded mostly around that price mark for Wednesday.

Platinum is one of the top-performing metals over the past year, reaching 12 year highs in recent weeks. Demand is being driven by the metal’s essential role in the emerging hydrogen economy. Its also still seeing robust demand from the auto sector despite the emergence of electric vehicles and uneasy consumer confidence in the economy.

On the supply side, global platinum reserves remain critically low, especially as the world’s biggest producer, South Africa, continues to be plagued by power shortages and operational disruptions.

Palladium price

Palladium has been the black sheep of the precious metals family for the past few years, remaining well below its March 2022 all-time record of US$3,440.76 per ounce.

On January 29, palladium got in on the party and rallied to an intraday high of US$2,172.50.

Then on Monday it came along for the slide, falling as low as US$1,529. After a slight rebound on Tuesday, the precious metal has traded around US$1,700 to US$1,800.

The palladium price is being held down by a slump in demand for electric vehicles and a looming oversupply situation. Analysts at Heraeus and Metals Focus predict the palladium market may move into a surplus in 2026 as secondary supply from recycling increases by 10 percent.