New Delhi, Dec 30: Gold prices edged higher on Tuesday after slipping to a two-week low, as year-end profit-taking triggered a broad pullback across precious metals that had surged to record levels.
Spot gold rose 0.7% to $4,363.79 an ounce by 0322 GMT, recovering from its steepest one-day drop since October. The metal had fallen on Monday to its lowest level since Dec. 17 after touching a record high of $4,549.71 late last week.
“The earlier run was overextended in the last one week or so, which makes the precious metals much more vulnerable for leveraged long positions being squeezed on the downside,” Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst at OANDA, said.
Technical indicators signaled cooling momentum, with relative strength indices for both gold and silver slipping out of overbought territory on Monday.
Despite the recent pullback, bullion remains one of the strongest-performing assets of the year. Gold is up about 66% so far in 2025, supported by expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts, ongoing geopolitical tensions, steady central bank buying and rising holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded funds.
Market participants are pricing in at least two interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve next year. Lower interest rates typically support non-yielding assets such as gold.
Platinum also recovered modestly on Tuesday, rising 1.1% to $2,132.86 an ounce. The metal had suffered its largest-ever daily percentage loss on Monday after climbing to an all-time high of $2,478.50.
Palladium gained 1.1% to $1,634.29 an ounce, a day after plunging 16%, one of its sharpest single-session declines on record.
