Gold was steady, after Israel and Iran agreed to end attacks that had jeopardized talks to end the war in the Middle East.
Bullion was near $4,325 an ounce in early trading, having closed the previous session little changed. The pledges from the two sides to stop missile strikes followed an appeal by US President Donald Trump for de-escalation as he seeks a wider resolution to the conflict that’s roiled global markets.
Now in its fourth month, the war has disrupted energy flows via the Strait of Hormuz, driven oil prices higher and raised concerns about global inflation, making central banks more likely to keep interest rates steady or raise them — a headwind for precious metals.
Bullion fell sharply in the early days of the conflict and remains about 18% below its immediate pre-war level, having erased its year-to-date gains on Friday after a strong US jobs report fueled bets that the Federal Reserve will hike rates this year.
“Longer term, we maintain a bullish gold view, but we believe it is extremely high-risk in the near term for anyone without very wide stops and longer-term investment horizons,” analysts from Citigroup Inc. including Kenny Hu said in a note, maintaining their six- to 12-month price target for bullion at $5,000 an ounce.
Spot gold edged down 0.1% to $4,326.23 an ounce at 7:06 a.m. in Singapore. Silver slid 0.1% to $68.12 an ounce. Platinum and palladium were little changed. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the US currency, was flat.
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