Precious Metals Price Update: Gold, Silver, PGMs Fall on Escalating US-Iran War

Gold price

The price of gold is showing remarkable resilience in the face of strong volatility this past seven very eventful days.

On February 26, the yellow metal managed an intraday high of US$5,200 per ounce, well above the low of US$4,440 that it reached in the first few days of February — that decline followed US President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, to replace Jerome Powell as the next Fed chair.

Gold continued this upward trend on February 27, rising to an intraday high of US$5,270. Over the weekend, tensions in the Middle East erupted into a full-scale war as the US and Israel launched a massive military campaign targeting multiple locations across Iran. Iran quickly escalated the conflict into a large-scale regional war including missile strikes and drone attacks in Israel, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

The events lit a fire of safe-haven demand for gold, pushing the price up over US$5,400 on Monday (March 2). However, the yellow metal just as quickly reversed course on profit taking and dropped as low as US$5,263 before recovering to a close of US$5,328. By Tuesday (March 3), the precious metal had lost further ground, falling slightly below the psychologically important US$5,000 mark during morning trading, then finishing the day at US$5,088.

Gold was trading back up at US$5,195 early on Wednesday (March 4) morning as investors sought to buy the dip — a sign that strong confidence remains in the long-term bullish outlook for the metal. Gold closed the day at US$5,145.24 as investors balanced safe-haven demand with the potential for higher interest rates for longer.

Here are the primary drivers for gold this past week:

• Geopolitical conflict in the Middle East was the primary driver for gold this week. Investors once again flocked to safe-haven gold, pushing the precious metal to near-record highs.

• Expected profit taking brought a healthy correction to the gold market, which contributed to the sharp, short-term drop on Tuesday.

• Investor faith in gold’s long-term value brought on a buy-the-dip sentiment, giving the metal a strong level of support.

• Concerns that rising oil prices as a result of the US-Iran war will lead to increased inflation is likely to place pressure on the Fed to delay interest rate cuts until later in the year. This takes a bit of the wind out of the sails for gold.

• The likelihood of rates staying pat for longer has strengthened the US dollar and raised 10 year Treasury yields, both of which are also price negative for gold.

For more insight into key price levels for gold, check out the Investing News Network's February 25 interview with Steve Barton, host of In It To Win It. He also discusses potential areas of opportunity elsewhere.

In other gold news, the World Gold Council reported that for the first time in over a decade, the Bank of Korea will begin investing in overseas-listed physical gold exchange-traded funds. Elsewhere, SSR Mining (TSX:SSRM,NASDAQ:SSRM) has agreed to sell its majority stake in the Çöpler gold mine in Turkey for US$1.5 billion in cash.

Silver price

Silver has also experienced a volatile week of trading, influenced by geopolitical tensions and concerns over the Fed’s next monetary policy moves. Still well below its all-time high of more than US$120 per ounce, the white metal traded at an intraday high of US$88.95 on February 26 before surging as high as US$94.14 the following day.

On Monday, silver continued higher to reach US$95.71 in early morning trading. Tracking gold’s decline, the silver price touched as low as US$86.61 that day before recovering to close at US$89.34.

Tuesday’s dip saw silver sink as low as US$79.73 in early morning trading before closing up at US$82.05. Silver managed to hold on to those gains Wednesday to close the trading day at US$83.56

As the world’s most electrically and thermally conductive metal, silver is still receiving strong support from industrial demand. The entrenched silver supply deficit also continues to provide a floor of support for the metal’s price.

In silver-mining news, on Tuesday major silver producer Fresnillo (LSE:FRES,OTCPL:FNLPF), reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of US$2.8 billion for the 12 months ended on December 31, 2025, up more than 80 percent over the previous year. This allowed the company to payout a total of US$950 million, or 128.92 cents per share, to shareholders for 2025.

Platinum price

Platinum was trading well above the US$2,200 per ounce mark on February 26, reaching as high as US$2287.50. The next day brought further gains, with the precious metal briefly pushing up past the US$2,400 level.

However, by Monday, the price of platinum had slid as low as US$2,291.50 in the morning trade before finishing the day at a four week high of US$2,325.70. Tuesday brought further volatility for the platinum price as it sank as low as US$2,015.70 as part of a broader liquidation event in the commodities markets. Yet the precious metal managed to swing back slightly above the US$2,100 level by the end of the trading day.

Wednesday saw platinum hanging on to those gains and moving upward to close at US$2,165.80.

This week platinum was supported by a Tuesday report from the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) highlighting the fourth consecutive annual platinum market deficit with a 240,000 ounce shortfall expected in 2026. That number is much lower than the 1.1 million ounce deficit recorded in 2025.

Demand is being driven by the metal’s essential role in the emerging hydrogen economy. The WPIC reports it sees support for platinum will come from a 7 percent rise in hydrogen stationary applications in 2026.

Palladium price

Palladium also succumbed to the downward trend for precious metals prices this past seven days.

On February 26, palladium retreated from one month highs above the US$1,900 level experienced last week to slip as low as US$1,770.50 per ounce in morning trading; it struggled to finish the day close to US$1,800.

February 27 found the metal back up to an intraday high of US$1,856.50.

On Monday, palladium lost ground again, dipping to a low of US$1,781 before closing out the day at US$1,803. However, the following day, palladium’s price tracked its sister metals in a runaway slide that brought prices to a low of US$1,631. By the end of the trading day it had only managed to claw back to US$1,672.

After rebounding to US$1,730 in early morning trading on Wednesday, palladium closed the day at the US$1,700 level.

It seems investors are reassessing palladium's value with a focus on broader economic risks to industrial demand brought about from potential shipping route closures in the Strait of Hormuz. Market tightness persists due to output disruptions in South Africa and uncertainty over Russian exports, which provide a partial floor for prices.