Prices of precious metals declined sharply on Tuesday, led by a major correction in silver, which tumbled over 5% after retreating from its record high of $54.47 per ounce. The sell-off was driven by improved US-China trade sentiment following comments from President Donald Trump, who stated that he expects to reach “a very fair deal” with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the upcoming APEC Summit in South Korea later this month.
At 4:16 am ET, silver dropped 5.19% to $49.63 per ounce, while gold fell 2.25% to $4,258.46 per ounce. Meanwhile, platinum slipped 2.48% to $1,598.81 per ounce, and palladium declined 3.07% to $1,440.82 per ounce.
Analysts noted that easing trade fears typically reduce demand for safe-haven assets like gold and silver, leading to price corrections. The precious metals rally, which saw silver touch historic highs, appears to be cooling as market confidence improves ahead of high-level trade talks between Washington and Beijing.