WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Partly offsetting yesterday's gains, gold prices have edged lower on Wednesday as investors react with cautious optimism to an upcoming second round of U.S.-Iran talks since the U.S.-ordered blockade on Iranian ports holds.
Front Month Comex Gold for June month delivery has inched lower by $24.90 (or 0.51%) to $4,825.20 per troy ounce.
Front Month Comex Silver for June month delivery has slid lower by $0.183 (or 0.23%) to $79.635 per troy ounce.
The Pakistan-hosted peace talks on Saturday between the U.S. and Iran to end their hostilities were termed 'a failure' by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday following which he ordered U.S. forces to enforce a blockade, starting Monday, across the Strait of Hormuz for all ships entering or exiting Iranian ports.
U.S. Central Command announced that the blockade has been fully implemented. The Strait of Hormuz still remains closed.
Objecting strongly to this move, Iran vowed strong retaliation and threatened to block trading movement through the Red Sea along with the Gulf and Sea of Oman if U.S. goes ahead with its blockade.
The renewed tensions due to concerns of an expansive war in the gulf led to another increase in oil prices.
Yesterday, in a telephone interview with New York Post, Trump confirmed that delegations from the two nations would meet in Pakistan again in the next two days to chart a framework for peace negotiations aimed to end the conflict.
In a separate interview with Fox Business Network, Trump remarked that the Iran war is now 'very close to over' though he added that the U.S. is not finished.
Stock markets regained momentum after Trump's confirmation of the second round of the U.S.-Iran negotiations.
In a significant breakthrough yesterday, envoys of Israel and Lebanon met in Washington to discuss means to end their drawn-out conflict. These talks were hosted by the U.S.
Held for the first time in decades, the negotiations were mediated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The International Monetary Fund has cautioned that further escalation in the U.S.-Israel versus Iran conflict could drive the world economy into recession.
Trump has asserted that he would not drop the ongoing probe against U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and threatened to fire Powell if he does not resign when his terms ends by next month.
The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors from the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro showed up at the site where the Fed's renovation (to the tune of $2.5 billion) is going on, unannounced, but were apparently turned away.
On the economic front, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America revealed that the Purchase Index in the U.S. decreased to 159.50 on April 10 from 161.10 of the previous week.
The U.S. dollar index was last seen trading unchanged at 98.05, down by 0.02 points (or 0.02%) today.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
