GOLD · ~$4,000–4,160/oz “A Full Round Trip on War, Truce, and the Fed’s Silence”

WHAT HAPPENED. Gold has been through a genuine mood swing over the past week and a half a spike above $4,160, a slide near $4,000, and a scramble back above $4,100, all inside roughly ten trading sessions. By Monday, July 27, spot gold had settled into a calmer consolidation around $4,088–4,098, up modestly on the day as fighting between the US and Iran entered a pause.

WHY IT HAPPENED — PRIMARY DRIVER (A 13-DAY STRIKE CAMPAIGN, THEN A SUDDEN PAUSE). The interim ceasefire referenced in prior editions broke down completely: the US carried out 13 straight days of strikes on Iran, with President Trump threatening “major military punishment” against Iran and the Houthis and reportedly weighing a “massive attack.” Iran-backed Houthi forces retaliated by striking two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea a key alternative export route prompting Asian buyers to explore rerouting Saudi crude around Africa via the Suez Canal. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium separately suspended loadings at its Black Sea terminal after tanker attacks, disrupting roughly 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports. Then, late Friday, July 24, the US paused its strikes without an official announcement, Iran halted its retaliatory attacks, and both sides opened Oman-mediated talks over the Strait of Hormuz a fragile but real de-escalation that took much of the war-risk premium back out of gold over the weekend.

SECONDARY DRIVER (RATES / FED UNCERTAINTY). Brent crude’s spike above $100 a barrel on Thursday pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.699% its highest level since January 15, 2025 as inflation fears mounted alongside a stronger-than-expected jobless claims print. Fed funds futures briefly priced in a jump to ~38–40% odds of a hike at this week’s meeting, before Monday’s truce news pulled yields and hike odds back down. Chair Kevin Warsh has abandoned the Fed’s practice of forward guidance entirely, meaning Wednesday’s ~130-word statement carries unusually high interpretive weight economists at FactSet still broadly expect no hike in 2026, but market pricing has been far more volatile than the consensus view.

STRUCTURAL FLOOR & SCENARIOS. Central bank buying and reserve diversification remain the multi-year floor under gold even through this volatility. 

SILVER · ~$56–60/oz “An Eight-Month Low, Then One of the Sharpest Snapbacks of the Year”

WHAT HAPPENED. Silver’s round trip was even more violent than gold’s: the metal fell to fresh eight-month lows during the worst of last week’s oil spike and rate-hike repricing, before climbing more than 2% toward $60 on Monday as Brent retreated sharply on the US–Iran truce. By Monday afternoon, spot silver traded near $58.50–59.40, still roughly 2% below its level of a week earlier despite the bounce.

WHY IT HAPPENED. As the more growth-sensitive precious metal, silver bore the brunt of the inflation/rate-hike scare soaring oil prices directly raised the odds of a September Fed hike to as high as 82% at one point (from ~52% the week before), pressuring silver even as gold held up somewhat better on pure safe-haven demand. The truce reversed both channels at once: lower oil eased the rate-hike case, and the broader risk-off unwind lifted silver alongside gold.

INDUSTRIAL DEMAND & PHYSICAL DEFICIT. The structural solar/EV/grid-storage deficit thesis is unchanged, though it has taken a back seat to the macro whipsaw for two straight weeks now. 

COPPER · ~$6.15–6.55/lb China’s Scrap Crackdown and Chile’s Storms Drove a One-Month Peak

WHAT HAPPENED. Copper spiked more than 3% in a single session mid-week to a more-than-one-month peak, before easing back below $6.37/lb by Friday as weak domestic demand and a broader pullback in global prices took hold. The metal remains firmer than the levels seen in early July, still supported by the structural tariff-driven distortion between COMEX and LME that has been building since late June.

WHY IT HAPPENED — SUPPLY (PRIMARY DRIVER). Two fresh supply-side shocks landed almost simultaneously: a Chinese crackdown on VAT fraud sharply reduced the availability of copper scrap, boosting demand for refined copper imports and tightening near-term supply in the world’s top consumer; separately, severe storms in Chile, the world’s largest producer, raised the risk of fresh output disruptions on top of the water-shortage and ore-grade issues flagged in prior editions. This layered on top of the still-unresolved Section 232 tariff implementation, with COMEX inventories remaining near record highs and LME stocks historically tight.

DEMAND (SECONDARY DRIVER). AI data-center, grid and EV infrastructure demand remain the unchanged long-duration growth driver. The oil-driven growth scare and rate-hike repricing were modest headwinds mid-week, now easing alongside the broader truce. 

PLATINUM · ~$1,600–1,671/oz Pulled Back From a Two-Week High as Oil-Driven Rate Fears Bit Hardest

WHAT HAPPENED. Platinum reached a two-week high near $1,650–1,671 on July 22 before tracking losses across the broader precious-metals complex as soaring oil prices reinforced expectations for tighter US monetary policy. By Monday, July 27, platinum had recovered modestly to around $1,628, up 1.83% on the day as the US–Iran truce took hold, though it remains below the $1,650 mark.

SUPPLY RISK (PRIMARY DRIVER). The structural case is unchanged from prior editions: the World Platinum Investment Council continues to project a fourth consecutive annual supply deficit for 2026, with constrained South African mine supply, elevated energy costs, and higher winter electricity tariffs all cited as ongoing headwinds to output. That deficit backdrop has again taken a back seat to the macro whipsaw over the past week and a half.

DEMAND RISK & LONG-TERM CATALYST. The shift toward electric vehicles, which do not require autocatalysts, continues to cloud the demand outlook even against the tight-supply backdrop, while hydrogen fuel-cell demand out of China remains the structural long-term catalyst. 

This report is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. All prices are approximate and subject to market conditions. · Pan Asia Market Intelligence · 27 July 2026