Gold and silver prices were trading in losses in Thursday’s session, February 26, as investors held off their bets ahead of the US-Iran nuclear talks later in the day, while the US Federal Reserve is expected to maintain interest rates at current levels in its next policy meeting.
The April futures contract on Comex fell $72 per troy ounce to a day’s low of $5,154 on February 26. Silver prices fell even more sharply, with the March silver futures contract on Comex declining $4.90 per troy ounce to reach the day’s low of $86.13. In the previous session, the white metal had touched a three-week high of $91.3.
Investors await outcome of US-Iran nuclear talks
Investors awaited further details on the US-Iran talks later in the day. US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are due to meet an Iranian delegation for a third round of nuclear talks later in the day in Geneva.
Trump, who has organized the largest military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, cautioned Tehran last week that it had a “maximum” of 15 days to strike a deal, or else “bad things will happen.”
Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, saying he would not allow a country he described as the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism to have a nuclear weapon.
Non-yielding gold is seen as a safe store of value during times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Tariff uncertainty
On the tariffs front, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, on Wednesday, announced that the US tariff rate for certain countries could rise to 15% or higher from the recently implemented 10%, without providing further specifics.
The country began collecting a temporary 10% global import tariff on Tuesday, but Donald Trump had earlier raised global tariffs to 15% shortly after announcing the initial 10% following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
US President Donald Trump said in his State of the Union speech that “almost all” countries and corporations want to stick to tariff and investment agreements previously made with Washington.
Trump on Monday warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals, saying that he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.
MCX gold drops over ₹₹2,200 per 10g; silver falls below ₹Rs 2.60 lakh per kg
In the domestic market, the April gold futures contract softened by ₹2,295 per 10 grams to reach the day’s low of ₹1,58,850, erasing all of the previous day’s gain of ₹1,176. Yet, week-to-date, the contract is still up by 1.43%.
Silver prices, too, saw sharp selling, with the March futures contract on MCX dropping. ₹13,144 per kilogram ₹2,55,172.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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