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Gold prices drop the most in six weeks as inflation fears are fueled by Middle East conflict
Gold is on track to suffer its largest weekly loss in six weeks on Friday as the escalating U.S. - Iran conflict has pushed up oil prices. This will increase inflationary pressures, and strengthen the case for higher U.S. rates. Gold spot was up 0.6% to $3,993.22 an ounce at 0758 GMT. It had been as low as it has been since July 1, earlier in the day. U.S. Gold Futures for August Delivery gained 0.1% to $ 3,996.90. The metal is down 3% this week, the biggest drop since June 1. This week's softer U.S. inflation data has not been enough to offset the Middle East conflict. Tim Waterer is the chief market analyst for?KCM Trade. He said that gold has made tentative moves higher today, after seeing the metal drop below $4,000 attracted bargain hunters. Waterer stated that "geopolitical risk in the Middle East is still present with inflation and yield fears being the predominant forces holding back gold". The oil price has risen by about 12% in the past week due to supply concerns raised by the escalated conflict between Iran and the United States. Oil prices are on the rise, which could increase inflation fears and interest rate increases. In a high interest rate environment, non-yielding assets like gold tend to struggle as investors move towards assets that offer higher returns. Lorie Logan, the Dallas Federal Reserve president, became the first member of Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s new colleagues to publicly call for a rate increase. Fed Vice-Chair Philip 'Jefferson' also said he was open to raising interest rates if inflation did not improve in the near future. According to the CME FedWatch?Tool, traders are pricing in 73% of a rate increase in December. This week, gold discounts in India reached a new high as buyers remained on the sidelines in anticipation of lower prices. Premiums in China were largely stable. Silver spot fell?0.1% per ounce to $55.45, platinum dropped 1.9% to 1,586.63, and palladium was down 1% at $1,237.47. All three metals are headed for a loss this week. (Reporting from Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru and Swati verma; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob Phillips)
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Metals like copper and industrial metals are falling as Middle East conflict weighs on the demand outlook
Copper and the base metal complex as a whole fell on Friday due to deteriorating risk sentiment from the Middle East conflict. This prompted inflation fears and cast a shadow on the demand outlook. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.01%, to $13,461 per metric ton at 0715 GMT. Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract fell by 0.73%, to 103 550 yuan (15,284.13) per ton. Copper, also known as "Dr Copper", fluctuated throughout the week. In London, it is expected to end the week with a marginal gain of 0.08%. As a result of the breakdown of the peace talks, and the increasing fighting between Iran and the U.S., shipments have been disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude prices have risen by nearly 12% in the last week, a result of the breakdown of peace talks and the escalation?of fighting between Iran and America. Gold, which does not yield, was on track for its worst weekly loss in the past six weeks despite a slight?uptick on Friday. This is because of bets that rising inflation would keep rates high for longer. The economic activity of industrial minerals is dampened by higher interest rates. The market's sentiment was boosted by a series of economic data that showed a softer June. The demand for copper is also being supported by the recent withdrawals of LME stockpiles and by a?good interest in buying from China, which is the largest consumer. The Yangshan premium On Thursday, the, which tracks "buying interest" there, was at its highest level since May 2025, at $95 per ton. LME Nickel fell?2.26%, while SHFE nickel dropped 1.57%. Nickel's decline erased a large part of the rally that occurred on Monday, when prices rose due to concerns about raw material supplies. Aluminium, zinc, and lead all fell in value on the?LME. Tin also dropped by 1.76%. Aluminium ticked up 0.09% on SHFE. Zinc fell 0.73%. Lead rose 1.8%. Tin lost 1.49%.
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Gold prices drop the most in six weeks as inflation fears are fueled by Middle East conflict
The price of gold was set to?fall? by its biggest weekly loss since 2006 on Friday as the escalating U.S. Iran conflict pushed up oil prices. This increased inflationary pressures, and strengthened the case for higher U.S. rates. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,002.39 an ounce at 0624 GMT. It had fallen as low as it has been since July 1. U.S. Gold Futures for August Delivery gained 0.4% to $4.006.10. Metal has fallen 3% this week, the most since June 1. The Middle East conflict is outweighing the support of softer June U.S. This week, the latest inflation figures were released. Tim Waterer is the chief analyst at KCM Trade. He said that gold was making small steps up today, after seeing the metal slip below $4,000 sparked some bargain-hunting. Waterer stated that "the Middle East is still a geopolitical risk, and inflation and yield are the main factors holding back gold." The oil price has risen by about 12% in the past week due to supply concerns raised by the escalated conflict between Iran and the United States. Oil prices are on the rise, which could increase inflation fears and interest rate increases. In a high interest rate environment, non-yielding assets like gold tend to struggle as investors look for higher return assets. Lorie Logan, the Dallas Federal Reserve president, became the first member of Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s new colleagues to publicly call for a rate increase. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson also suggested that he would be willing to raise rates if inflation did not improve in the near future. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in 73% of a rate increase in December. This week, gold?discounts widened in India to a month-high as buyers remained 'on the sidelines' in anticipation of lower prices. Premiums in China remained largely unchanged. Silver spot rose 0.6% to $55.83 an ounce. Platinum fell 1% to 1,602.02 while palladium slipped 0.4% to 1 244.84. All three metals are headed for a loss this week. (Reporting from Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru and Swati verma; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob Phillips)
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ASIA GOLD-Indian gold discounts have increased to a one-month-high; China demand remains weak
This week, gold?discounts?in India increased?to an all-time high?as 'weak jewellery demand kept buyers away and the hope of lower prices kept them on the sidelines. Premiums in China remained largely unchanged amid muted retail sales. Indian dealers quoted discounts Up to $45 per ounce, including 15% import duty and 3% in sales tax, over the official domestic price, compared to a discount of up $19 last weekend. Retail jewellery demand is weak. Harshad Ajmera, of JJ Gold House in Kolkata, said that most customers just exchange old jewellery for new. "Jewellers don't buy much fresh gold" because they are only exchanging old jewelry for new. On Friday, domestic gold prices fell to 139,850 rupees for 10 grams, while spot international gold?hit its lowest level in more than two weeks and was heading towards its largest weekly decline?in six. "There is no big festival coming up." The demand will be muted until prices show a significant correction, said a Mumbai bullion dealer at a private banking institution. Bullion in China traded at a premium of up to $7 per ounce above the global benchmark spot rate The price of remained largely unchanged from the previous week, when it traded between a $1 discount and a $5 premium. Bernard Sin, regional director of Greater China at MKS PAMP, said: "Retail appetite is muted. Jewellery sales are low, households are cautious, and ETFs are bleeding assets. Yet the People's Bank of China continues to anchor the market by accumulating steady reserves." In Hong Kong, gold Singapore: $1 of premium is traded at par. At par with a $2 premium, and in Japan At a discount of $0.50 ANZ analysts say Hong Kong's launching of a?new gold clearance system last week is a step towards building market infrastructure. The near-term impact of the system on jewellery demand will be minimal, but it supports Chinese institutional and reserve manager demand as well as cross-border investments, which reinforces the long-term bullish argument for gold in Asia.
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Gold set to suffer its biggest weekly loss since 2006 as inflation fears fuelled by the Iran War
Gold was set to suffer its?largest weekly loss in six weeks on Friday as the escalating U.S. Iran conflict pushed up oil prices. This increased inflationary pressures, and strengthened the case for higher U.S. rates. Gold spot was up 0.3% to $3,980.64 an ounce at 0455 GMT. It had touched its lowest level since July 1, earlier in the day. U.S. Gold futures for August delivery fell 0.2% to $3,984.10. Metal prices have fallen 3.4% this week. This is the biggest drop since June 1. The ongoing Middle East tensions are outweighing support provided by softer U.S. inflation figures released this week. Tim Waterer is the chief market analyst for KCM Trade. He said that despite the lower CPI and PPI numbers, traders couldn't rejoice over the lower inflation figures because of the recent spike in oil prices. "Geopolitical risk in the Middle East is still present, and inflation and yield fears are the predominant forces that hold gold back." Iran and the United States traded intensifying fire Thursday, in a weeklong escalation which has largely undone last month's ceasefire. The limited oil flow out of the Strait of Hormuz has caused the price of oil to rise by about 12% this week. Tehran asked the Houthi movement to be ready to close the Red Sea export route. Oil prices are on the rise, which could increase inflation fears and interest rate increases. In a high interest rate environment, non-yielding assets like gold tend to struggle as investors gravitate towards assets that offer higher returns. Lorie Logan, the Dallas Federal Reserve president, became the first new Fed chairman Kevin Warsh colleague to publicly call for a rate increase. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said he was also 'open to raising rates in the event of a near-term inflation improvement. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in a 73% probability of an interest rate hike for December. Silver spot?fell by 0.6%, to $55.20 an ounce. Platinum lost 1.1%, to $1.599.17. Palladium slipped 0.4%, to $1.244.16. All three metals are headed for a loss this week. (Reporting from Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru and Swati verma; Editing from Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob Phillips)
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India's Jio Financial Services leaps after quarterly profits surges
Shares of Jio Financial Services soared on Friday after the non bank lender reported a more than doubled?quarterly?profit,?adding investor confidence in its expansion into lending, payments and insurance, as well as asset management. The stock rose as high as 6.1%, and by 10:29 am IST was up as recently as 3.9% to 244.83 rupees. This makes it the biggest gainer in the benchmark Nifty50. Jio Financial, which was spun-off from Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries in 2023 and will be listed on the stock exchange, announced that its net profit for the June quarter more than doubled to 8.3 billion rupees (86.19 millions dollars), mainly due to broad-based growth across segments. Analysts at Motilal-Oswal say Jio Financial had a good quarter. Jio Credit, the lending arm of Jio Financial, has been growing rapidly since gross assets under management surpassed 300 billion rupees. The brokerage highlighted improved profitability in the payment?business, and steady progress in insurance and asset-management operations. Motilal oswal stated that execution across all businesses remained strong. It added that they expect earnings momentum to?increase further as scale improves and the management continues its focus on profitablity. The brokerage anticipates that assets under management will grow at a CAGR of 85%, and profits at a CAGR of 145% over the fiscal years 2026-2028. Jefferies stated that the results were aided by the growth of the company's client base and the progress made in the insurance industry. ($1 = 96.3025 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Mridula Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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The ROI-LME wanted to buy more lead. Andy Home
Lead is everywhere. The London Metal Exchange's (LME) battery metal stocks jumped by 58% in just two days this week thanks to the warranting 171,175 tons of metric tonnes at warehouses in Singapore. It is the exchange's duty to be happy. The exchange reduced listing fees between April 2024 to December 2025 for smaller lead producers in order to "enhance the liquidity" of its?lead contracts. Evidently, it worked. LME's lead stock has risen to?almost 500 tons in the last few months. This includes large quantities of lead that are in?off-warrant? storage. Metals that are no longer in demand have become the preferred financing option for metallic products. The majority of this inventory is located in Singapore and it rotates between warehouses to find better rental rates. This week’s burst in warranting activity was just the latest and largest of such rotations. Where did all this metal come? How much more metal is to come? WAREHOUSE ROULETTE LME lead stocks are characterized by large and concentrated bursts that warrant action. This has been going on for several months. The trade is based more on warehousing than the fundamentals of the lead market. The trader in this instance, Trafigura, agreed with the warehouse operator that the future rent fees paid by the new owner would be split. The new owner is likely to cancel the warrants quickly to avoid the rental agreement and move the metal to another warehouse company. Stock churn used to be a feature of the LME Aluminium market. However, inventory has now dropped below 400,000 tons. This includes off-warranty stocks. The lead is now the game. A portion of the "stocks" that arrived this week were simply moved from stocks off-warrant. The metal stocks in Singapore fell by 34.256 tons when the first 83.225-ton batch of metal was placed on warrant on Monday. There are still 142,598 tonnes of metal that could be warrantable ahead of the second delivery on Tuesday. INDIAN EXPORTS SURGE At the end of June, 76% of total LME on-warrant inventory was made up of Indian lead. In January 2023, there was no Indian metal in the LME system. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, which gathers trade data from customs statistics, Indian exports increased between 2022 and last year from 151,000 tons. Singapore is a popular destination even though it's not a major hub for lead-acid battery manufacturing, which is the primary application of the metal. Since the beginning of 2023, Singapore has received more than 400,000 tons. In November 2025 they reached a peak of 31,000 tons, which was almost half the total refined lead exported by India. There were three lead brands registered at the LME until last year. Two of them were produced by Hindustan Zinc, a large mine-to refinery primary producer. The third was by Jain Resource Recycling, a secondary producer. Last year, the LME added five more brands with a combined production capacity of 195,000 tonnes as part of its drive to encourage smaller secondary lead producers. Gravita India has become the ninth Indian leading brand to achieve LME Good Delivery status. Change of flow As more Indian producers register with the exchange, it is likely that there will be an increase in the amount of lead delivered to LME storage facilities in Singapore. India's trade patterns have changed this year. According to the WBMS, exports to Singapore in April were only 1,555 tons, the lowest monthly total in the past year. China was the main destination in April, with 8,685 tonnes representing 34% of all exports. It is a very new market for Indian Metal. China imported very little refined lead last year, and only took 500 tons of it from India. WBMS data shows that imports of Indian goods grew to 57,000 tons during the first five months this year. This brings the total to 132,000 tonnes, the highest amount since 2009. It is unclear why China suddenly requires so much lead, but the fact that it does means that less Indian metal will be heading to LME Singapore warehouses. This still leaves Singapore with a large amount of metal that is being sold through warehouse deals. This week, the sudden emergence of so much lead sent LME's three-month metal to a 15-month-low price of $1840 per ton. The chances of a sustained economic recovery are dependent on how long China will continue to divert Indian metals away from LME Singapore warehouses. Andy Home is a columnist at. This column is great! Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
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Metals like copper and industrial metals are falling as Middle East conflict weighs on the demand outlook
Copper and the wider base metal complex fell on Friday as inflation fears and a deteriorating risk outlook prompted by the Middle East conflict weighed down the demand outlook. The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.88%, to $13,479.5 per metric ton at 0300 GMT. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract fell by 0.63%, to 103650 yuan (15,299.12 dollars) per ton. Copper, also known as "Dr Copper", fluctuated throughout the week. It is on track to finish the week with a 0.2% increase. The Strait of Hormuz has been affected by the breakdown of peace negotiations and the intensification of fighting between the U.S.A. and Iran. Brent crude has risen nearly 12% in the last week, and oil prices increased on Friday. Gold, which does not yield a return, was set to suffer its largest weekly loss in the past six weeks despite gaining a little on Friday. This is because of bets that rising inflation would keep rates high for longer. The economic activity of industrial minerals is dampened by higher interest rates. A string of economic statistics for June, published this week, offset some concerns about U.S. rates that are likely to remain higher longer, softening the sentiment a bit. The demand for copper is also supported by the recent withdrawals of LME stockpiles and a?good interest in buying from China, the top consumer. The Yangshan premium On Thursday, the price of a ton, which tracks buying interest in that area, was at its highest level since May 2025, at $95 per ton. LME Nickel fell by?1.88%, while SHFE nickel dropped by 1.18%. Nickel's decline wiped out much of the previous days rally when prices rose on worries about raw material supplies. Aluminium, zinc, and lead all dropped a little more than 1%, while tin fell 1.7%. On the SHFE, aluminium gained 0.15%. Zinc lost 0.41%. Lead rose 1.8%. Tin lost 1.39%. $1 = 6.7749 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (Reporting and editing by Janane Vekatraman).
QUOTES - 'Bloodbath:' Analysts react on Asian shares falling due to tech selloff
Asian markets fell sharply on the Friday. Equity benchmarks in Japan, Taiwan and China dropped as much as 6 percent, as global declines in technology stocks intensified.
Japan's Nikkei benchmark 225 index has entered correction territory after falling more than 10% from its June 25 high.
TAKAMASA ikeda, SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANGER,?GCI RESOURCES MANAGEMENT TOKYO :
The Nikkei index is highly correlated to the SOX. The SOX index's growth was not sustainable, and a correction has occurred. A correction was expected, but is happening sooner than the market anticipated."
The market is now unsure if hyperscalers can make returns to justify their massive investment. These investments are financed by high-leverage loans from private lenders and banks.
CHRISTOPHER FORBES, DIRECTOR OF ASIA AND THE MIDDLE-EAST, CMC MARS, SINGAPORE
"They were good (technical) earnings. It just shows how much has been baked into the price. SpaceX is a good proxy for the market sentiment at this time, and it's well below the IPO.
I'm not worried about the panic. People are still buying gold and Silver and losing trades.
The market is currently selling off because the world is watching the yields rise.
JOHAN JAVEUS SENIOR ECONOMIST SEB STOCKHOLM
The selloff was probably a combination of factors, where profit-taking in many AI stocks and the persistent doubts about an AI investment bubble were the main drivers. Many investors are extra nervous because the SpaceX IPO did so badly.
KEI OKAMURA PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, NEUBERGER BERMAN TOKYO
"I believe the Fed was probably a trigger." Kevin Warsh's comments and shifting views on what appeared to be quite hawkish Fed policies started a cascading effect towards taking the chips off of the table.
"We began to see a lot of momentum in the sales pressure. First, it was the high-profile names, like SK Hynix or Samsung. But then, the trend spread."
The Nikkei is trending just as bad if not even worse. "The word 'bloodbath,' is accurate as it is happening across the board."
FABIEN YIP, MARKET ANALYST, IG, SYDNEY:
"I think investors are now more concerned about sustainability than just the growth numbers... but rather whether these numbers can be achieved while maintaining a certain healthiness on the balance sheet."
The unwinding will also exaggerate any decline.
If the selloffs continue into the U.S. sessions, I believe Korea will be disastrous when it reopens."
SHOICHI ARISAWA FELLOW, INVESTMENT RESEARCH PARTNER, IWAI COSMO SECURITY, TOKYO
"I think the correction in the market is continuing as a result of the steep rise that preceded this." The business environment around AI and semiconductor companies or the current outlook of semiconductor demand has not changed.
NAOKI FUJIWARA SENIOR FUND MANAGEMENT SHINKIN ASSET MANAGEMENT TOKYO
The market can't trust the memory makers outlook because demand is expected rise. But it could be that their customers are buying ahead of price increases. Next week, we will have earnings from Alphabet and other memory users. If they have a positive outlook, the stock market could rebound.
If the Nikkei drops to 63,000 that means shares are trading at 17 times their PER which is cheap compared to?current market.
WEN XUNNENG is the CEO of ZHU LIU?ASSET MANAGEMENT in Shanghai:
The global AI bubble has burst. The correction in A-shares followed the pullbacks of South Korean and U.S. stocks."
The AI industry is growing, but that doesn't mean the stock market will continue to rise.
The large number of quantitative funds in China also amplifies volatility. It will take a long time for China's technology stocks to stabilize."
SHRIKANT KALE, SENIOR QUANTITATIVE STRATEGIST, JEFFERIES, HONG KONG:
The market may be beginning to discount the normalisation of earnings growth expectations among AI beneficiaries. This shift is from near-perfect pricing execution and continual upgrades towards a more sustainable trajectory.
ZHIWEI ZHANG, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PINPOINT ASSET MANAGEMENT, HONG KONG:
It (the correction) seems to be largely technical, rather than fundamental. It doesn't appear that there has been a major shift in expectations for tech capex. It is more an adjustment of crowded places that caused a'state of stampede.
GARY TAN PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, ALLSPRING GLOBAL INVESTIMENTS, Singapore:
The flows that we see suggest this is more of a reaction to the higher yields than a knee-jerk reaction. Equity flows indicate that investors are taking profit on some of the largest AI winners, rather than making high-conviction moves into year-to date laggards like software, consumer or internet names. Reporting by Rocky Swift and Tom Westbrook; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair.
(source: Reuters)