1. While central banks have attracted significant attention for their continued appetite for gold, they are not the only buyers in the marketplace. Affluent investors, those with at least $100,000 in assets, are also showing increased interest in the precious metal. On Thursday, one of the world’s largest banks published its annual Affluent Investor Snapshot, which revealed that affluent investors have doubled their exposure to alternative assets, including gold. At the same time, investors have reduced their cash allocations by nearly 40%, particularly in Hong Kong, Mexico, the UK, and the U.S. Breaking down the data further, affluent investors increased their gold exposure to 11%, a rise of six percentage points from last year. The report highlighted strong investor interest in gold. According to the survey, half of the respondents said they plan to own gold within the next 12 months, double the current ownership levels. Among those, 41% are looking to buy physical bullion, while 28% are considering digital gold assets.
2. The silver price recorded its highest monthly close in 14 years at $36.05 for the month of June. The last time the price closed this high was July of 2011, when the precious metal notched a close of $39.23. Despite near-record prices, investor interest remains relatively low, and we thus see no sign of a top. The stair-step fashion in which silver has been rising for the last three years makes it a perfect bull market for the achievement of higher prices with little fanfare. Remember back to 2010 – 2011: following the break above $17 in August 2010, silver nearly tripled in just 8 months, to $50 per ounce in April of 2011. The good thing for current investors in the precious metals market is that silver is showing no signs of any sort of unsustainable trajectory as it did in 2011.
3. The dollar rose against currencies globally, climbing to its strongest level in more than a week on speculation trade tariffs won’t hurt the economy as badly as feared or require aggressive interest-rate cuts to remedy. A gauge of the dollar’s strength gained as much as 0.5%, reaching its strongest level since June 27. That left the greenback higher versus the majority of G-10 currencies, strengthening the most versus the yen and the Australian and New Zealand dollars, while pushing a measure of emerging-market currencies toward its steepest drop since April.
4. Wall Street analysts predict oil futures will fall below $60 per barrel by the end of the year as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) boost output. OPEC+ has been unwinding output cuts this year as it seeks to recover global market share. Over the weekend, the group announced it would boost production by 548,000 barrels per day in August. This marks OPEC’s fourth consecutive monthly increase and was larger than analysts anticipated.
5. Americans’ outlook on inflation was little changed last month as households upgraded their views on the state of their finances and ability to get credit, according to a report released on Tuesday by the New York Federal Reserve. As of June, inflation one year from now was expected to be 3%, down from the expected 3.2% in May, while the outlooks at the three- and five-year-ahead horizons were unchanged at 3% and 2.6%, respectively, according to the latest New York Fed Survey of Consumer Expectations. Meanwhile, long-term inflation expectations have remained mostly stable, which is good news for Fed officials, who believe that development suggests confidence that over the long run inflation will not be a major concern.
6. In the week ending July 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 227,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 1,000 from 233,000 to 232,000. The 4-week moving average was 235,500, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 241,500 to 241,250.
7. Oil futures dropped as traders weighed the impacts of OPEC+ debating a pause in output hikes. Brent futures traded below $70 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate below $68. The group is discussing a pause in further production increases from October, with conversations at an early stage and no firm decisions yet taken. Traders are probably interpreting the OPEC+ talks as a sign that “the market may not be able to cope with more oil,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. “We are potentially seeing the risk of an oversupplied market” once the peak demand period ends, he said.
8. The EUR/USD stays under pressure below 1.1700 in the European session on Friday. The pair is weighed by fading EU-US trade deal hopes as President Trump is set to send a tariff letter to the European Union later in the day. Sustained haven demand for the U.S. Dollar adds to EUR/USD’s downside.
9. U.S. Dollar may retest the 147.20 level against Japanese Yen (JPY); a sustained advance above this level seems unlikely. In the longer run, renewed momentum has increased the chance of further USD strength, but it must first close above 147.20 before a move to 147.60 is likely.
U.S. mortgage applications to purchase a home jumped to the highest level since early 2023 last week, even as borrowing costs barely budged. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of home-purchase applications advanced 9.4% in the week ended July 4, according to data out Wednesday. MBA’s measure of refinancing jumped by a similar amount to the highest level since April. While the figures are adjusted for seasonal effects, they are still prone to wide swings around holidays like Independence Day. And even with the increases, both gauges are still well below their pre-pandemic levels. The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped just 2 basis points to 6.77% last week. Economists and real estate agents have said that a sustained drop in home financing costs is needed to reinvigorate the housing market, which is also hamstrung by high prices.
U.S. dollar volatility may have settled down in recent weeks, but analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. see plenty of reasons to think it may start trading like a “riskier” currency again. A steep slide in the dollar this year has fueled speculation about a permanent shift in the dollar’s status as a safe-haven asset. While Goldman analysts don’t predict that will happen, things could still be pretty bumpy in the short term. By some measures, the dollar has continued to trade as a risky currency even as it has stabilized in recent weeks. Data compiled show that the correlation between the greenback and a widely watched G-10 volatility gauge is near its lowest in seven years. That signals that the dollar is behaving less like a haven and more like a source of volatility. For much of the past 15 years, the correlation was firmly positive. It also puts the long-standing market belief that hedging costs fall when the dollar weakens into question.
Volatility should be expected to remain high as investors will be closely watching for hints on the upcoming monetary policy direction. Many investors have redoubled their efforts to ensure that their portfolios are sufficiently diversified in the hope that they will be able to withstand corrections in multiple market sectors. Many of these investors have included physical precious metals as part of their diversification plans, given their long history as a hedge against both inflation and during times of economic turmoil. Remember, the key to profitability through the ownership of physical precious metals is to own the physical product and hold it for the long term. Always remember that you should never overextend your ability to maintain ownership of your precious metals over the long run.
Trading Department – Precious Metals International Ltd.
Friday to Friday Close (New York Closing Prices)
| July. 3, 2025 | July. 11, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $3,329.22 | $3,353.47 | 24.25 | 0.73% |
| Silver | $36.88 | $38.46 | 1.58 | 4.28% |
| Platinum | $1,377.19 | $1,408.00 | 30.81 | 2.24% |
| Palladium | $1,142.47 | $1,225.07 | 82.60 | 7.23% |
| Dow | 44828.53 | 44371.32 | -457.21 | -1.02% |
Previous Year Comparison
| July. 12, 2024 | July. 11, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $2,417.84 | $3,353.47 | 935.63 | 38.70% |
| Silver | $30.97 | $38.46 | 7.49 | 24.18% |
| Platinum | $1,002.80 | $1,408.00 | 405.20 | 40.41% |
| Palladium | $977.28 | $1,225.07 | 247.79 | 25.36% |
| Dow | 40001.36 | 44371.32 | 4369.96 | 10.92% |
Here are your Short-Term Support and Resistance Levels for the upcoming week.
| Gold | Silver | |
| Support | 3316/3267/3198 | 36.48/35.85/34.78 |
| Resistance | 3385/3434/3503 | 38.19/39.26/39.82 |
| Platinum | Palladiumn | |
| Support | 1384/1334/1272 | 1133/1098/1059 |
| Resistance | 1446/1497/1559 | 1207/1247/1301 |