Gold (GC=F) June futures opened at $4,783 per troy ounce on Thursday, 0.6% lower than Wednesday’s closing price of $4,813.10. The gold price fell below $4,650 in early trading.
Gold had been showing strength in recent days, but lost ground after President Trump’s prime-time address on Wednesday. Trump said the war was nearly over, but then vowed to “hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.” Trump also predicted the Strait of Hormuz would “open up naturally” once the fighting stopped. Iran’s closure of the marine transport route has been a primary contributor to higher oil prices. President Trump had previously threatened to attack Iran’s power and water infrastructure if the country did not reopen the strait.
President Trump’s inconsistent messaging may have rattled gold traders, who were already on edge about the short-term outlook for interest rates. The concern is that higher oil prices will spark inflation and prompt the Fed to raise interest rates. Higher interest rates increase the opportunity costs for gold, which does not pay a coupon.
The opening price of gold futures on Thursday was 0.6% lower than Wednesday’s close. Here’s a look at how the opening gold price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
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One week ago: +7.7%
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One month ago: -10.5%
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One year ago: +53.3%
Gold’s year-over-year growth was 95.6% on Jan. 29.
24/7 gold price tracking: Don’t forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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If you are socking gold bars away for a rainy day, there may be an opportunity to earn some tax perks in the process. You could establish a gold IRA to hold those assets and diversify your retirement wealth.
Learn more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps
A gold IRA is a specialty form of self-directed IRA that’s designed for gold and other precious metals.
The table below compares the main features of standard IRAs and gold IRAs.
You must work with a specialty provider that can ensure your account complies with these IRS restrictions:
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Storage: Your gold must be held in an IRS-approved facility.
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Asset types: A gold IRA can hold physical gold, silver, platinum, or palladium — but not all forms of these metals are eligible. For example, gold bullion, silver coins, and bars must meet purity requirements. Additionally, gold bars must come from approved refiners.
Learn more: Gold IRA: Benefits, risks, and how it differs from a traditional IRA
Whether you’re tracking the price of gold since last month or last year, the price-of-gold chart below shows the precious metal’s steady upward climb in value.
Learn more: Gold alternatives? How to invest in silver, platinum, and palladium.
Tim Manni edited this article.