- Gold falls to its lowest in a year, about 28% below its January record.
- Platinum hits a 13-month low, and silver drops below $50 an ounce.
- Fed rate hike bets and higher oil prices weigh on metals.
- Lower prices hit Zimbabwe’s gold and platinum producers.
GOLD fell to its lowest level in a year and platinum to a 13-month low on Friday as bets on another U.S. interest rate rise and higher oil prices pushed investors out of precious metals.
Spot gold fell as much as 3.2% to $3,891.67 an ounce and closed at about $3,875. It lost about 6% in October, its worst October since 2008, and is about 28% below its record close of $5,419.83 on January 28.
Platinum fell 4% to its lowest since September 2025. Palladium dropped to its lowest since mid-2025, and silver fell below $50 an ounce for the first time in about 11 months. Shares in gold and silver producers fell as much as 8%.
Oil prices rose on the prospect of renewed U.S. military action against Iran, including an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude reached its highest since April, which added to inflation worries.
Traders now put the odds of a Federal Reserve rate rise in December at more than 70%. The Fed held rates at 3.75% to 4.00% on October 28, with two officials wanting an immediate increase.
Third-quarter U.S. growth beat expectations, and September inflation, measured by personal consumption expenditures, rose 0.5% on the month and 3.6% on the year.
A rout in technology stocks also forced some investors to sell metals to cover losses elsewhere. Gold pays no yield, so it tends to struggle when interest rates rise.
Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said further selling by technically driven funds could take silver to the mid-$40s. Commerzbank called the fall in gold exaggerated and said it still expects a recovery.
The slide affects Zimbabwean producers. Platinum traded above $1,800 an ounce in early September, Tharisa said in a statement on its Karo project, and is now around $1,430. Impala Platinum, which owns Zimplats, said in September that its annual profit rose more than 31-fold on higher platinum group metal prices.
Gold accounted for about $3.2 billion of Zimbabwe’s $5.73 billion in mineral export earnings in the first half of 2026, Deputy Minister of Mines Caleb Makwiranzou said in September.
