Gold and silver extend losses as oscillating oil prices spark market volatility

Gold and silver prices sank further on Friday, building on intense losses recorded in the previous session.

Spot gold dropped 3% to $4,508.12 an ounce, pulling back from larger gains seen earlier in the morning. Gold futures lost 2.5% to settle at $4,489.60.

Spot slid more than 6% lower at $67.94 an ounce, after oscillated between positive and negative territory through the morning. Silver futures dropped more than 4% to $68.16.

Gold and silver are on track to slid around 9% and more than 10%, respectively.

The metals were caught in a broad sell-off on Thursday, with spot prices sliding around 3% after suffering deeper losses earlier in the day amid rising fears about the economic fallout from the Iran war.

Volatility in the oil market has been influencing global investor sentiment since the beginning of the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran. On Friday, oil prices continued to fluctuate, and were last seen edging higher after posting declines earlier in the morning.

Global equity markets were mixed on Friday, with European stocks struggling to find direction as Asian shares mostly moved lower. U.S. futures data pointed to a negative open on Wall Street, after earlier signaling a rebound from Thursday’s losing session.

Arthur Parish, a metals and mining equity analyst at SP Angel, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday that some of the extreme volatility in gold in recent weeks came after an extended rally in the build up to the first U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.

“That’s pretty much unwound completely and actually moved quite a lot lower,” he said. “A lot of that is momentum trades coming unwound.”

Gold and silver both enjoyed record-smashing rallies in 2025, surging 66% and 135%, respectively, over the course of the year. However, they have seen much more volatile trade in 2026, with silver futures suffering their biggest single-day blow since the 1980s at the end of January.

During the 2025 bull run on gold, Parish noted that there had been “a lot of generalists coming to the space, a lot of systematic hedge funds and a lot of retail as well.”

“That money is not wedded to long term gold positioning,” he said. “Ever since the Ukraine-Russia war and the freezing of Russian assets, you’ve seen central banks accumulate gold. I think they drove the first leg higher in this multi-year gold bull run, and then the tourists and retail investors came in to take advantage of that momentum. They’re leaving the space now, which is probably what’s needed for gold to then take another leg higher.”

Toni Meadows, head of investment at BRI Wealth Management, told CNBC that gold and silver prices are dependent on daily demand as well as “a fear mark-up.”

“I wouldn’t view it as a daily hedge to every move in risk assets,” he said. “It is driven by longer-term trends rather than short-term fear trading.”