WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After two consecutive sessions of gains, gold prices slumped on Thursday as traders rushed to lock in profits while signs of geopolitical and trade conflicts mellowing accelerated the fall.
Front Month Comex Gold for February delivery sharply declined by $59.00 (or 1.20%) to $4,861.40 per troy ounce.
Front Month Comex Silver for February delivery plummeted by $7.6360 (or 9.07%) to $76.529 per troy ounce.
Weeks ago, under U.S. President Donald Trump's orders, a massive U.S. naval fleet moved close to Iran after which Trump threatened Iran to discuss their nuclear plans with the U.S. or face harsh attacks.
On Wednesday, Trump warned Iran against any attempt to restart its nuclear program by building new sites.
Iran agreed to engage in a non-mediatory talks with the U.S., and the talks were scheduled for this Friday in Muscat, Oman.
While Iran wanted the talks to involve its nuclear program alone, the U.S. demanded including the details of Iran's ballistic missile program as a result of which the talks were set to collapse.
Persuaded by several Arab and Muslim nations, the U.S. later agreed to work as planned without abandoning the talks.
Russia and Ukraine concluded the second day of the U.S.-authored negotiations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with an agreement to exchange around 314 prisoners of war.
Confirming talks are moving well, the U.S. team headed by Jared Kushner and Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff remarked that 'significant work remains.'
Even as talks continue, Russia launched two ballistic missiles and 183 drones on Ukraine.
Trump had a telephone call with China's President Xi Jinping, haling the talks as 'excellent' and 'all very positive.' The conversation reportedly touched upon issues including trade, energy, the China-Taiwan dispute, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and the Russia-Ukraine war though no announcements on any concrete deals came out.
Signals of easing geopolitical and trade conflicts peeled away the safe-haven appeal for gold.
After the partial federal government shutdown that began last Friday ended yesterday, the U.S. dollar index rebounded.
Trump signed a new funding bill agreed upon by Republicans and Democrats and passed by both the houses of Congress.
The U.S. dollar index was last seen trading at 97.75, up by 0.14 points (or 0.14%) today. A stronger dollar increased pressure on the yellow metal.
The U.S. jobs report which was slated to be released this Friday has been postponed until next week as the work was affected by the brief U.S. shutdown.
The U.S. Labor Department's data on initial jobless claims showed a rise by 22,000 from the previous week to 231,000 in the last week of January.
The increase exceeded market expectations of 212,000 and marks the largest number of initial claims in nearly two months.
Continuing jobless claims increased to 1.844 million for the week ending January 24 from 1.819 million in the previous period, slightly below expectations of 1.850 million.
The four-week moving average for initial jobless claims increased to 212.25 thousand for the week ending January 31.
Challenger data revealed that U.S.-based employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January 2026, the highest since October, compared to 33,553 cuts announced in December.
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