Precious Metals Stall But End the Week Up

 

Gold, Silver Stall But End the Week In the Green

(Bullion News Network) – Gold will end Friday marginally down after a news-heavy week. The precious metal remains up on the week and near an all-time high but slid less than $2 while remaining above the $2,930/ozt line today. Gold prices jumped at the beginning of the week. Uncertainty continues to drive strong safe haven demand for gold, prompting some leading U.S. banks to revise their end-of-year price projections to $3,100 or higher. Goldman Sachs argues that President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing threat of trade wars pose an additional upside risk that could further elevate prices to $3,300/ozt or more. 

Goldman Sachs raises year-end gold target to $3,100 on central-bank appetite https://t.co/5im5lCZgqd

— Bloomberg (@business) February 18, 2025

Silver prices suffered more to end the week, losing $0.36/ozt and dropping below $33 per troy ounce. The lopsided price action drove the gold-silver ratio about one point higher to 90.08:1. The ratio has remained relatively stable throughout the week but is down around a point from February 11th’s monthly high of 91.05:1. On a more macro level, silver prices have been climbing since the beginning of 2025. To date, silver is up by nearly $3.80 per troy ounce from January 1st’s closing price. 

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine dominated the foreign news cycle this week after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin met in Saudi Arabia to discuss a potential ceasefire between the two countries. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke out about his views on the negotiations, saying that a “fragile ceasefire” would be the “prelude” to further land encroachments and armed conflicts between the two countries. Given the role that geopolitical instability in the region has played in impacting safe haven asset prices, experts say that a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia would likely be a bearish signal for gold. 

The ongoing conflict in Gaza also played an important role in driving precious metal price speculation in 2024, a trend that has continued into the beginning months of 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump recently floated the idea of taking over the Gaza Strip and relocating the 2.142 million Palestinians who live in the area, prompting another round of safe haven buying as traders moved to hedge their portfolios against the possibility of escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. 

Demand for gold remains strong as the precious metal closes in on its eighth consecutive weekly gain. Profit-taking curbed the metal’s run this morning to end the week, but analysts anticipate that demand will remain high throughout the year. Multiple investment banks anticipate that safe haven asset demand will hinge largely on the inflationary impacts, if any, of President Trump’s slate of tariffs and aggressive economic foreign policies. General economic conditions and geopolitical uncertainty will also remain bellwethers for safe haven demand heading into the rest of the year. 

A full slate of economic data reports scheduled for next week should keep markets busy in the meantime. On Tuesday, analysts project that the consumer confidence report for the month of February will come in 0.3 points higher than January’s numbers, which revealed that Americans are highly concerned about how monetary policy could impact the price of goods. A GDP report, unemployment data, and pending home sales reports are scheduled for release on Thursday. Projections show an increase in initial jobless claims, an unchanged GDP reading, and a slight slowdown in freefalling pending home sales. 

Expect metal prices to move primarily on major news items next week, with the tone and tenor of these data reports impacting price action at the margins. Of course, the 2025 market for gold and silver is unprecedented – anything is possible.