Gold (GC=F) fell to around $5,300 after briefly topping $5,600 per ounce on Thursday while silver (SI=F) also pared gains as precious metals took a breather from a blistering rally.
The declines came alongside a sell-off in the stock market, with the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropping as much as 2% amid a plunge in Microsoft shares (MSFT). The tech giant’s quarterly earnings report spooked investors, given higher-than-anticipated capital spending and a slowdown in quarterly cloud sales growth.
A rapid rally in precious metals that had stunned Wall Street faced resistance on Thursday as the US dollar (DX-Y.NYB) rebounded from its lowest level since early 2022.
“The continued surge across metals, especially gold and silver, is entering a dangerous phase, in my opinion,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said on Thursday.
“The problem is volatility feeding on itself. As price swings intensify, liquidity thins,” he added.
Gold prices had risen roughly 20% year to date as the greenback weakened against other currencies.
Read more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps
Just last week, Goldman Sachs analysts set a year-end price target of $5,400 for gold, with a potential upside risk due to increased participation from private-sector investors.
The precious metal rallied past $5,500 on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held rates steady, with commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell doing little to stop the dollar’s slide.
“I see this as a sign that conviction levels in the Dollar-down trade are high,” Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote in a note on Thursday before gold’s descent. He noted that “the weak Dollar is super-charging the debasement trade.”
A gold jeweler weighs gold bars for sale in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Silver topped $120 per ounce before paring gains. The precious metal is up 42% year to date after posting a stunning rally in 2025.
“Silver prices have already significantly overshot our forecasted averages, though calling a top is close to impossible in markets displaying near-parabolic price momentum,” JPMorgan analysts noted earlier this month.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
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