(Kitco NewsWire) - Spot gold prices are lower and spot silver prices are firmer in early U.S. trading Monday, as a stronger U.S. dollar and higher oil prices weighed on bullion while silver held a positive session. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,506.50 an ounce, down 0.72%, while spot silver was trading near $75.875, up 0.80% on the session. The U.S. calendar opens June with the ISM Manufacturing Index and April construction spending, both due at 10 a.m. ET. The May jobs report on Friday remains the week’s main macro event, with ADP payrolls, factory orders, durable goods revisions, ISM services and the Fed Beige Book due Wednesday. The rate backdrop is still restrictive for precious metals, with the 10-year Treasury yield near the 4.5% area and the dollar firmer as renewed Middle East risk supports haven demand for the currency. The Strait of Hormuz remains the main geopolitical transmission channel into oil, inflation expectations and precious metals. Oil rose around 3% after the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes over the weekend, while negotiations continued over a possible memorandum of understanding covering sanctions, Iran’s nuclear program and measures to reopen the strait. Tanker flows remain impaired, with Iran saying four oil tankers passed through the waterway versus a pre-war daily average near 130. Jonas Goltermann, chief markets economist at Capital Economics, wrote that markets still assume “the Strait of Hormuz will re-open.” The current impact on gold is mixed: renewed conflict risk supports defensive interest, but higher oil prices lift inflation risk, Treasury yields and the dollar. Across other markets, the clearest effects are higher crude, stronger energy-linked inflation risk, firmer U.S. equity futures and continued volatility in shipping-sensitive sectors. Global equities were mostly firmer before the U.S. open despite the latest oil move. Dow futures gained 0.5%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% and Nasdaq futures added 0.2%. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.2% and Germany’s DAX gained 0.5%. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at a record 66,934.33 after crossing 67,000 intraday, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.7% to a record 8,788.38. The key outside markets see Nymex WTI crude oil prices higher and trading around $90.29 a barrel, while Brent crude was near $93.64. The U.S. dollar index is firmer. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is trading near the 4.5% area. Technically, spot gold bulls’ next upside price objective is to push prices back above the $4,514 to $4,550 resistance zone, with a sustained move targeting $4,576 and then $4,600. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is a break below $4,500, with deeper downside targets at $4,488.90 and then $4,460. First resistance is seen at $4,514 and then at $4,550. First support is seen at $4,500 and then at $4,488.90. Spot silver bulls’ next upside price objective is to drive prices back above the $76.00 to $76.50 area, with a move above that zone targeting $78.00 and then $78.92. The next downside price objective for the bears is a break below $74.97, with deeper downside targets at $74.26 and then $73.25. First resistance is seen at $76.00 and then at $76.50. Next support is seen at $74.97 and then at $74.26.
Iranian Official
In the face of U.S. aggression and unlawful strikes targeting Iranian interests, the Islamic Republic has exercised its sovereign authority over the Strait of Hormuz, limiting tanker passages to safeguard national security and resist foreign interference. Iran continues its steadfast resistance to coercive sanctions and external pressures on its nuclear program, rejecting any compromise of its territorial integrity or right to self-defense. Negotiations remain ongoing as Tehran upholds these principles against imperialist encroachments.
Israeli
Israeli security assessments view the U.S.-Iran exchange of strikes and ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz as direct manifestations of Tehran's existential threat, channeled through its proxy network to choke vital energy routes and sustain nuclear ambitions. These actions compel robust defensive measures by Israel and its partners to neutralize the regime's capacity for regional destabilization and potential annihilation threats. Market volatility in oil and precious metals underscores the broader costs of unchecked Iranian aggression.
Neutral
Spot gold traded near $4,506.50 per ounce, down 0.72 percent, and spot silver near $75.875, up 0.80 percent, in early U.S. trading on Monday amid a stronger dollar and higher oil prices. Scheduled data releases include the ISM Manufacturing Index and April construction spending at 10 a.m. ET, with the May employment report due Friday. Oil prices rose about 3 percent following reported exchanges of strikes between the U.S. and Iran, while tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz remained limited according to Iranian statements and negotiations over sanctions and reopening the waterway continued.
Western
U.S. precision strikes successfully neutralized Iranian threats to the Strait of Hormuz, advancing strategic objectives to secure global energy flows and counter Tehran's nuclear program amid ongoing negotiations on sanctions relief. These targeted actions, paired with diplomatic efforts, aim to restore tanker traffic disrupted by Iranian restrictions while markets price in a swift reopening of the critical chokepoint.
Pro-Peace
The U.S.-Iran exchange of strikes has intensified conflict in the Middle East, causing civilian deaths and humanitarian hardship while disrupting tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz and driving up global energy costs that burden vulnerable populations. Markets for gold and silver reflect these tensions amid a stronger dollar, yet the human toll of military escalation far outweighs commodity fluctuations. Diplomatic negotiations for a memorandum on sanctions, Iran’s nuclear program, and reopening the strait represent the essential alternative to further violence and suffering.
Global South
US strikes on Iran have impaired tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting oil prices and bolstering the dollar, which weighed on spot gold near $4,506 while silver edged higher. These moves expose how Washington’s unilateral pressure on Iranian sovereignty transmits shocks through dollar hegemony and energy chokepoints, raising import costs for Global South economies already strained by Western-led financial volatility. Institutional paralysis at the UN and Bretton Woods bodies leaves non-aligned states exposed to repeated neo-colonial disruptions without recourse.
(Kitco NewsWire) - Spot gold prices are lower and spot silver prices are firmer in early U.S. trading Monday, as a stronger U.S. dollar and higher oil prices weighed on bullion while silver held a positive session. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,506.50 an o…
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A tanker identified as the Kaifan was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Limah in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a July 21 report from UK Maritime Trade Operations. No ships were observed transiting the strait that day. Attribution of the strike and links to prior incidents have not been confirmed by the vessel’s owner.
Goldman Sachs has projected Brent crude averaging $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 in the following year, conditional on reduced Middle East tensions, while noting upside risks from potential shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz or Red Sea.
Brent prices rose above $91 per barrel amid recent U.S.-Iran exchanges and Houthi threats to Saudi shipments before edging lower on Tuesday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that mediators had proposed a 10-day ceasefire to preserve an interim agreement.
Opening summary: Iran claims attacks on strait of Hormuz ships amid fresh US strikes Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East crisis. Iran attacked a tanker in the strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announced they were imposing an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea after the two sides traded fire last week for the first time in years.
A Houthi official said the Bab al-Mandeb strait – at the southern end of the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade usually passes – would be closed to the Saudis in response to the kingdom’s “unjust blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years”.
Saudi Arabia said it would take “all necessary measures to protect its vessels in accordance with international law”. A 10 consecutive night of US airstrikes has not compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies.
But even as Iran’s president said the country had returned “full-scale war”, the Iranian interior minister travelled to Pakistan – a key mediator in the conflict – for talks. In key developments: The latest US strikes came hours after Donald Trump said Iran would pay “many times over” for killing US soldiers after multiple service members were killed in action over the weekend.
A tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the Hormuz strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack as well as two other attacks on ships in the waterway on Monday.
The US military’s Central Command said its latest airstrikes were to “degrade” Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait and included hitting military command centres and missile and drone launch sites. Iranian media reported strikes in parts of the country including Bandar Abbas, Tabriz and Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power.
Iran’s launched attacks in response against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, which all host US forces. Oil prices softened after hitting their highest levels in more than a month in the previous session. Brent crude futures eased 0.4% to $88.87 a barrel by 0052 GMT on Tuesday while US West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was steady at $82.
47 a barrel. Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties. The Lebanese army began taking charge of security in three southern villages, the US said, as a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faced its first test on the ground.
US forces struck the tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10, killing three Indian crew members when munitions hit the engine room and adjacent areas. Maritime tracking data indicate the vessel had transported Iranian oil under US sanctions for several years and conducted offshore transfers prior to the strike.
The US military described the action as a precision operation, while reports note the ship was stationary at the time.