Gold and silver bars of various sizes at the precious metals dealer Pro Aurum in Munich.
Sven Hoppe | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Gold prices sank further on Friday, capping their worst week in 15 years as investors fretted about the economic implications of the U.S.-Iran War.
Futures tied to the yellow metal dropped 0.7% to $4,574.90 an ounce, pulling back from gains earlier in the morning. The metal plunged 9.6% this week, its biggest weekly loss since since September of 2011.
Gold futures
Gold is on track for its worst month since October 2008. But the metal is still up more than 5% in 2026, underscoring its big run before the Persian Gulf conflict.
Silver futures tumbled more than 2% to $69.66, its lowest closing level since December. The metal recorded its third straight losing week with a decline of more than 14%.
Silver is now down more than 1% for 2026.
Friday’s declines extended a tough session for precious metals Thursday, with spot prices dropping 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.-Israel war with Iran. Oil prices topped $112 in Friday’s session.
U.S. stocks tumbled Friday’s, dragging the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite near a decline of 10% from their recent highs, which Wall Street defines as a correction. President Trump said Friday that he didn’t want a ceasefire in the war with Iran.
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 U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
“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-setting rallies in 2025, when they surged 66% and 135%, respectively. They have continued to be volatile in 2026, with silver futures suffering their biggest one-day rout 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 [the gold price] 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.”