Gold Climbs, Silver Crosses $39 Per Ounce

 

Gold Climbs, Silver Crosses $39 Per Ounce

(Bullion News Network) – Gold prices jumped to start the week, gaining $45 to settle at just under $3,400 per troy ounce by market close. The move comes on the heels of a pullback for the United States dollar, as well as a combination of geopolitical and economic uncertainties that have persisted for much of 2025. Silver saw an even more impressive start to the week, gaining nearly $0.80 and crossing $39/ozt for the first time since 2011. The price action favored silver, which pushed the gold-silver ratio half a point lower to close the day at 87.25:1. Platinum group metals also gained today, with both platinum and palladium adding over $20 per troy ounce to their spot prices. 

Considerable uncertainty continued to drive safe haven demand on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his criticisms of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week, urging the economist to cut interest rates before inflationary pressure resumes. Powell and the rest of the FOMC seem unlikely to comply; CME FedWatch projects a probability of only 2.6% that the Fed will cut rates at its July 30th meeting. This projection is down from 6.2% one week ago and 14.5% last month. Trump seemed to suggest he may attempt to fire Powell earlier this year, but a supposed intervention by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent caused the leader to pull back on plans to oust the economist. Pressure on Powell increased last week amid a GOP-led investigation into a renovation of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters.

Tariff jitters also persisted to begin the trading week. A slew of additional tariffs are due to go into effect on August 1st, including fresh tariffs on Canada, copper imports, and several of America’s allies. Of particular note is a series of new tariff proposals on the European Union, which Trump announced earlier this month. Member states of the EU are planning retaliations, which could send shockwaves through the international economy. The sweeping tariffs promised by the Trump administration also run the risk of raising costs for Americans, some economists believe. The inflationary risk posed by tariffs has complicated the Fed’s timeline for cutting rates, according to Jerome Powell. 

We really don’t know how much of that’s going to be passed to the consumers. We just don’t know. And we won’t know until we see it. It could be lower than we expect. It could be higher. We have to wait and see, which is kind of what we’re doing.

While inflation seems to have slowed, the Fed’s preferred economic indicators still forecast a considerable increase in inflation as a result of the White House’s historic slate of import fees. Powell and the rest of the Fed face ongoing criticism from President Donald Trump, who believes that interest rates should be cut as soon as possible. The uncertainty doesn’t seem to have deterred Wall Street by much. The Dow pulled back marginally on Monday, but both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq set fresh records.

Jerome Powell will speak tomorrow at a banking conference. On Thursday, a fresh initial jobless claims report should give traders a bit more insight into the American labor market. Next week, the Q2 GDP report on Wednesday, the June PCE index on Thursday, and fresh employment and consumer sentiment data will give traders even more economic data heading into August. The Fed is set to vote on interest rates next Wednesday, July 30th, and most analysts expect the FOMC to keep rates unchanged.