Gold prices staged a strong rebound on Tuesday, with silver and platinum also posting sizable gains, as precious metals appeared to stabilize following two sessions of steep declines.
At 08:25 ET (13:25 GMT), spot gold jumped 5.8% to $4,931.00 an ounce, while April gold futures climbed 6.4% to $4,952.34 an ounce. Spot silver surged more than 14% to $88.338 an ounce, and spot platinum advanced 5.9% to $2,230.10 an ounce.
Gold bounces after sharp retreat from record highs
Gold had tumbled to as low as $4,400 an ounce on Monday, wiping out nearly $1,200 an ounce from the all-time high reached last week. The sharp pullback was driven by aggressive profit-taking after U.S. President Donald Trump nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the central bank.
While the nomination removed a key source of uncertainty for markets—reducing some safe-haven demand—Warsh is also viewed as less dovish than investors had anticipated. Even so, signs of stabilization emerged late Monday, with spot gold finishing well above its session lows.
“Further stabilisation will be determined by the mentality of the retail market. Physical demand from this sector has been strong in recent months and could provide a strong backdrop to the selling from leveraged trades in the institutional market,” ANZ analysts wrote in a note, adding that the underlying fundamentals for gold remain intact.
“Central bank gold purchases should be strong amid strained international relations, while concerns about Fed independence and rising risk premiums on US assets may add volatility that supports investment demand for gold through 2026,” the ANZ analysts said.
ING struck a more cautious tone, noting that risks remain in the near term. “Near-term downside risks persist as year-to-date gains are almost fully unwound, and some investors may continue to take profits,” the bank said in a note. “But absent a material shift in fundamentals, the pullback looks more like a correction than the start of a new trend. Volatility will remain elevated.”
Gold moved “too far, too fast” – BCA Research
Despite the rebound, some strategists are warning that the powerful rally across precious and industrial metals may be showing signs of speculative excess. Peter Berezin, chief global strategist and director of research at BCA Research, cautioned that prices may have moved “too far, too fast.”
In a new note to investors, Berezin outlined a long-term scenario in which gold could, in theory, lose most of its value. He argued that the current rally is rooted in legitimate concerns about currency debasement, pointing to rising U.S. budget deficits, expanding debt levels and heavy foreign ownership of U.S. assets, all of which have left the dollar exposed as some investors reduce holdings.
At the same time, foreign central banks have continued to accumulate gold. “While the physical volume of gold purchases has dipped, the dollar value continues to increase,” Berezin wrote.
However, he also noted that key inflation indicators have yet to validate the debasement narrative. Long-term inflation expectations remain relatively stable, while Bitcoin—often described as “digital gold”—has not participated in the rally.
Copper steadies after recent selloff
In the base metals complex, copper prices also moved higher on Tuesday, recovering from recent weakness. Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 4% to $13,451.00 a ton, while COMEX copper futures gained 4.3% to $6.0780 a pound.
Losses in copper have been far more limited than those seen in precious metals, reflecting a still-constructive outlook for demand amid expanding energy generation capacity and ongoing data center construction. ANZ analysts noted that Chinese buyers stepped in last week to take advantage of lower prices, with China also seen building inventories ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
As the world’s largest copper importer, China is expected to remain a key source of demand, particularly as Beijing continues to roll out additional stimulus measures.