Global gold prices saw a notable decline during trading on Thursday as investors took profits after the precious metal hit a record high in the previous session. Also, US President Donald Trump’s less hawkish tone towards the Federal Reserve chairman and Iran led to a decrease in demand for safe-haven assets.
Political tensions and their impact on risk appetite
Ilya Spivak, head of global macroeconomics at Tasty Life, said gold is experiencing a slight decline following Trump's comments hinting at the possibility of non-intervention in Iran, which has eased demand for safe havens.
However, Spivak explained that the major factors behind the precious metal's rise are still in place.
As the Iranian leadership attempts to contain the worst wave of internal unrest since the 1979 revolution, Tehran has threatened US military bases in the region in an effort to deter Trump’s repeated threats of military intervention.
But at the White House, Trump indicated that he was adopting a wait-and-see approach to the developments of the crisis.
The Federal Reserve and economic data
Meanwhile, the US president said on Wednesday that he does not intend to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell despite the criminal investigation being conducted by the Justice Department, but added that it is still too early to decide what he might do later.
The weekly US jobless claims data for the first week of January is due later today, and these figures could provide important clues about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path, at a time when traders are expecting two interest rate cuts this year.
A low interest rate environment, coupled with geopolitical and economic uncertainty, typically supports non-yielding assets such as gold.
Gold at settlement yesterday
Gold prices rose at the close of trading on Wednesday, driven by economic and geopolitical uncertainty that boosted investor appetite for safe-haven assets.
Gold futures for February delivery rose 0.80%, or $36.60, to $4,635.70 an ounce, marking the second record close for the most active contracts in 2026.
Gold now
Spot gold fell 0.7% to $4,589.71 an ounce, after hitting a record high of $4,642.72 in the previous session.
Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures for February delivery fell 0.9% to $4,594.10.
Performance of other precious metals
Spot silver fell 5.5% to $87.62 an ounce after hitting a record high of $93.57 earlier in the session.
Spot platinum also fell 3.3% to $2,305.90 an ounce after hitting its highest level in a week, following its rise to a record high of $2,478.50 on December 29.
Palladium lost 2.6% to reach $1,778.80 an ounce, settling near its lowest level in a week.
