Spot gold dropped to around $5,161.50 an ounce by 0750 GMT, after hitting a record high of $5,595.46 on Thursday. Despite the sharp pullback, prices were still up about 3.5% on the week, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Over a longer horizon, gold has surged roughly 85% over the past 12 months and about 19% since the beginning of the year, supported by heightened trade and geopolitical tensions as well as interest rate cuts by major central banks.
Silver also saw heavy losses, plunging around 8% to approximately $106.36 an ounce on Friday after reaching an all-time high of $121.67 on Thursday. Even so, silver prices remain more than 235% higher than a year ago.
Market volatility intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to announce his choice to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday. Speculation has grown that former Fed governor Kevin Warsh could be nominated.
Although Warsh was previously known as an inflation hawk, he has recently aligned himself with Trump by publicly calling for lower interest rates.
The Fed’s decision on Wednesday to keep interest rates unchanged helped the dollar recover from multi-year lows, though the currency remained on track for a second consecutive weekly decline. A stronger dollar typically makes gold priced in U.S. currency more expensive for foreign buyers.
Markets continue to price in two interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2026.
Meanwhile, Trump also said on Thursday that he plans to hold talks with Iran, easing some investor fears of an imminent military strike.
“I have had conversations with Iran in the last few days, and I am planning on it,” Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center, while adding that “a lot of very big, very powerful” ships are currently sailing toward Iran.
