(Kitco NewsWire) - Spot gold and silver prices are higher in late-afternoon U.S. trading Thursday, as weaker crude oil, softer Treasury yields and a lower U.S. dollar supported precious metals ahead of Friday’s May employment report. At the time of writing, spot gold was trading near $4,477.70 an ounce, up 0.97%, while spot silver was trading at $73.955, up 1.66% on the session.
U.S. jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 225,000 in the week ended May 30, while continuing claims fell by 8,000 to 1.777 million for the week ended May 23. The claims data added to the case that the labor market is loosening at the margin, but not enough to settle the Fed debate before Friday’s payrolls print.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the main geopolitical channel into gold, oil, rates and equity risk. The throttled traffic has kept a persistent risk premium in crude despite Brent futures staying below $100 a barrel. The current U.S.-Iran setup is being traded as a managed-disruption story rather than a full supply-shock story: oil retreated as traders bet on a possible U.S.-Iran deal, Treasury yields eased with inflation pressure lower, equities outside AI-linked tech caught a bid and gold benefited more from the rate-cut channel than from outright safe-haven demand.
The pre-open split in U.S. equity futures resolved into a rotation trade by the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 874.86 points, or 1.7%, to a record 51,561.93, the S&P 500 added 30.63 points, or 0.4%, to 7,584.31 and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 23.02 points, or 0.1%, to 26,830.96. The Russell 2000 gained 41.81 points, or 1.4%, to 2,935.33 as lower borrowing costs supported smaller companies.
The key outside markets see Nymex crude oil prices lower and trading around $93.02 a barrel, while Brent crude was near $95.22. The U.S. dollar index is softer. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is trading near the 4.5% area.
Technically, spot gold bulls’ next upside price objective is to push prices back above the $4,530.00 to $4,550.00 resistance zone, with a sustained move targeting the 50-day moving average at $4,628.99 and then the $4,660.00 to $4,680.00 area. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is a break below $4,425.00, with deeper downside targets at $4,370.00 and then $4,350.00. First resistance is seen at $4,530.00 and then at $4,550.00. First support is seen at $4,425.00 and then at $4,370.00.
Spot silver bulls’ next upside price objective is to drive prices back above the 50-day moving average at $76.15, with a move above that zone targeting $78.00 and then $79.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is a break below the $71.00 to $72.00 support zone, with deeper downside targets at $66.00 and then $65.00. First resistance is seen at $76.15 and then at $78.00. Next support is seen at $72.00 and then at $71.00.
