Gold (GC=F) June futures opened at $4,813.60 per troy ounce on Thursday, down 0.2% from Wednesday’s closing price of $4,823.60. The gold price moved up slightly in early trading.
Silver (SI=F) May futures opened at $79.19 per ounce on Thursday, 0.6% lower than Wednesday’s closing price of $79.63. The silver price remained steady in early trading. Besides yesterday’s opening, this is the highest opening price for silver since mid-March.
Gold remained above the $4,800 threshold as international mediators work to facilitate peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. The war is currently under a ceasefire, which expires next week. The Strait of Hormuz remains a point of contention, as the U.S. and Iran are both blocking traffic through the critical waterway. Even so, Brent crude oil (BZ=F) opened at $94.91 this morning after hitting highs above $115 in late March. As oil prices come down, so does the risk of an inflation cycle that would prompt the Fed to raise interest rates.
Higher interest rates usually suppress gold demand and pricing. The yellow metal does not pay a coupon, and higher rates equate to larger opportunity costs for gold investors.
The opening price of gold futures on Thursday was 0.2% lower than Wednesday’s close. Here’s a look at how the opening gold price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
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One week ago: +2.2%
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One month ago: -3.8%
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One year ago: +48.6%
Gold’s year-over-year growth was 95.6% on Jan. 29.
24/7 gold price tracking: Don’t forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Want to learn more about the current top-performing companies in the gold industry? Explore a list of the top-performing companies in the gold industry using the Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own screeners with over 150 different screening criteria.
The opening price of silver futures on Thursday was down 0.6% from Wednesday’s close. Here’s how the opening silver price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
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One week ago: +0.8%
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One month ago: -9.9%
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One year ago: +153.2%
Learn more: How to invest in silver: A beginner’s guide
If you are socking gold bars away for a rainy day, there may be an opportunity to earn some tax perks in the process. You could establish a gold IRA to hold those assets and diversify your retirement wealth.
Learn more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps
A gold IRA is a specialty form of self-directed IRA that’s designed for gold and other precious metals.
The table below compares the main features of standard IRAs and gold IRAs.
You must work with a specialty provider that can ensure your account complies with these IRS restrictions:
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Storage: Your gold must be held in an IRS-approved facility.
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Asset types: A gold IRA can hold physical gold, silver, platinum, or palladium — but not all forms of these metals are eligible. For example, gold bullion, silver coins, and bars must meet purity requirements. Additionally, gold bars must come from approved refiners.
Learn more: Gold IRA: Benefits, risks, and how it differs from a traditional IRA
Whether you’re tracking the price of gold and silver since last month or last year, the price-of-gold and price-of-silver charts below show the precious metals’ value journey so far this year.
More silver coverage from the Yahoo Finance team:
Tim Manni edited this article.