Overview
- Spot gold fell roughly 6% after Monday’s record near $4,381, briefly testing $4,000, while futures dropped about 5% in the steepest slide in more than a decade.
- Silver’s pullback was even sharper, tumbling up to about 8% after a London market squeeze had supercharged recent gains and drawn down inventories in Shanghai and New York.
- Analysts cited stretched technicals, a stronger greenback and hopes for progress in US‑China talks as catalysts that exposed crowded long positions and triggered stop-loss selling.
- Brokers reported functioning liquidity but tightened risk settings, with margin hikes and wider spreads, as ETF volumes surged and the absence of CFTC positioning data added uncertainty.
- Despite the shakeout, long‑term supports remain in place, including central‑bank buying, heavy ETF inflows and bank forecasts that point to higher prices into 2026.