Gold and silver retreat from record highs after steep rally

Gold and silver plunged this week after a spectacular rally, with both metals posting their steepest single-day declines in years as prices retreated from record highs. Gold, which hit an all-time peak above $4,381 an ounce just days earlier, fell roughly 5 to 6 percent to about $4,100 an ounce on Tuesday and Wednesday. Silver, which had climbed above $54 an ounce during the rally, dropped more than 6 percent to trade below $50, marking its largest one-day fall since February 2021.

Traders and analysts said the pullback reflected a mix of technical profit-taking, easing safe-haven demand and a partial unwinding of unusual market strains that had pushed silver sharply higher. Comments by President Donald Trump and signs of softer U.S.-China trade tensions helped reduce immediate risk aversion, while strong regional bank earnings lifted bond yields and stabilized equities, both factors that typically weigh on non-yielding assets such as gold and silver.

The correction was intensified by the resolution of an acute supply squeeze in the London silver market. Warehouse outflows on Comex topped 15 million ounces this week and exchange-traded funds recorded about a 10 million ounce...