1. HSBC has lifted its silver price forecasts for 2025, 2026, and 2027, citing strong support from high gold prices and safe-haven demand in the face of geopolitical and economic uncertainty. The bank now expects average silver prices of $35.14 per ounce in 2025, up from $30.28 previously, $33.96 in 2026, against an earlier forecast of $26.95, and $31.79 in 2027, versus $28.30 formerly. HSBC said that after four years of record-high growth, industrial demand for silver may edge lower this year, although any declines are likely to be limited. It said demand would likely recover in 2026, driven by key sectors such as the photovoltaic industry and electronics. The bank’s supply-demand model projects a silver deficit of 206 million ounces in 2025, widening from a 167-million-ounce deficit in 2024. That is expected to narrow to 126 million ounces in 2026.
2. U.S. stocks made gains Monday as Wall Street regrouped amid a slew of fresh headwinds, including disappointing labor data and continuing trade uncertainty. The benchmark S&P 500 climbed 1%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the gains, rising about 1.4%. The moves follow a sharp pullback on Wall Street last Friday. All three major indexes posted their worst weekly declines in months, ending a run of positive market moves. The S&P 500 fell 2.4%, marking its steepest drop since late May. The Dow slumped 2.9% in its worst week since early April, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.2%.
3. The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June on a sharp drop in consumer goods imports, the latest evidence of the imprint of tariffs on global commerce. The overall trade gap narrowed 16.0% in June to $60.2 billion, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday. Days after reporting that the goods trade deficit tumbled 10.8% to its lowest since September 2023, the government said the full deficit including services also was its narrowest since September 2023. Exports of goods and services totaled $277.3 billion, down from more than $278 billion in May, while total imports were $337.5 billion, down from $350.3 billion. The diminished trade deficit contributed heavily to the rebound in U.S. gross domestic product during the second quarter, reported last week, reversing a drag in the first quarter when imports had surged as consumers and businesses front-loaded purchases to beat the imposition of President Trump’s tariffs. The economy in the second quarter expanded at a 3.0% annualized rate after contracting at a 0.5% rate in the first three months of the year.
4. Google has confirmed that some customers’ information has been stolen in a recent breach of one of its databases. In a blog post late on Tuesday, Google’s Threat Intelligence Group said one of its Salesforce database systems, used to store contact information and related notes for small and medium businesses, was breached by a hacking group popularly known as ShinyHunters, formally designated as UNC6040. “The data retrieved by the threat actor was confined to basic and largely publicly available business information, such as business names and contact details,” the company said. This is the latest in a series of breaches targeting Salesforce cloud systems, after recent thefts of customer data from Cisco and airline giant Qantas, retail giant Pandora, among others, as reported by Bleeping Computer.
5. Coinbase is the closest thing crypto has to a blue-chip name: a booming exchange that joined the S&P 500 this year and at one point surged 69% to a $106 billion market value. That streak just hit a wall. The stock plunged 17% last week after disappointing results, in its second-worst post-earnings drop. Analysts question whether Coinbase can keep using its pricing power to defend margins, without ceding ground to lower-cost rivals. The firm has long defied warnings that competition would force it to slash fees, even raising them on a set of stablecoin trades in March. But competitors like Kraken and Robinhood are chasing market share. And Gemini and Bullish are preparing for potential public listings. Coinbase’s revenue grew 3% last quarter, its slowest in two years. Kraken’s sales rose 18%, while Robinhood’s crypto business nearly doubled to $160 million. Coinbase’s global market share edged lower from 5.65% to 4.56% before a small rebound in July, according to analyst estimates. For now, it still commands more than half of the U.S. spot market, a reminder of its scale.
6. The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits ticked higher last week, suggesting the labor market was largely stable even though job creation is weakening and it is taking laid-off workers longer to find new jobs. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 226,000 for the week ended August 2, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled had forecasted 221,000 claims for the latest week.
7. Light crude oil futures posted steep losses this week, with prices sliding over 5% to settle near $63.85. The sharp selloff was fueled by a wave of bearish fundamental developments—including an OPEC+ supply boost, escalating trade disputes, softer U.S. crude exports, and uncertainty surrounding Russian energy sanctions. Each factor contributed to a deteriorating sentiment across the energy complex, driving futures to their lowest levels in nearly two months.
8. The EUR/USD pair slides from one-week highs right above 1.1700, trading at 1.1640 ahead of the U.S. session opening on Friday, as the dollar bounces up on the back of news mentioning Christopher Waller as a top candidate to replace Jerome Powell as the Federal Reserve Chairman.
9. USD/JPY plunged 2.8% of the high with price unable to mark a weekly close above the 52-week moving average for the past three weeks. The bears are attempting to mark a third weekly decline here and the focus is on this pullback into the monthly open. Weekly support rests with the May high-week close at 145.63 and is backed by critical support at the yearly low-week close 61.8% retracement of the April rally at 143.68-144.10- both levels of interest for possible downside exhaustion / price inflection if reached.
Gold and silver prices are higher and hit two-week highs in midday U.S. trading Thursday. News that China’s central bank continues to add to its gold reserves and more-bullish near-term technical postures in both gold and silver recently are boosting both metals today. December gold was last up $17.70 at $3,451.00. September silver prices were last up $0.438 at $38.34. Gold has climbed about 30% this year as investors have sought safety amid heightened trade conflicts, geopolitical tensions and eroding trust in dollar-denominated assets. Still, the precious metal has been range-bound over the past few months, lacking new catalysts to surge past its record high of just over $3,500 an ounce reached in April.
The United States has imposed tariffs on imports of one-kilo gold bars, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing a letter from Customs and Border Protection. The letter – dated July 31 – said one-kilo and 100-ounce gold bars should be classified under a customs code subject to levels, according to the newspaper, which added that the move could impact Switzerland, the world’s largest refining hub.
Less than a week after deciding against an interest-rate cut, some Federal Reserve policymakers are signaling rising angst about a cooling U.S. labor market and a slowing economy, even as they continue to express uncertainty about the outlook for inflation, which remains stuck above the Fed’s 2% goal. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari on Wednesday said that for him, it all adds up to a case for interest rate cuts in coming months. “The economy is slowing, and that means in the near term it may become appropriate to start adjusting,” Kashkari said on CNBC’s Squawk Box, adding that two quarter-percentage-point rate cuts by the end of the year “seems reasonable to me.” Recent data “suggests the real underlying economy is slowing. I’ve got confidence that that is happening,” Kashkari said. “How long can we wait until the tariff effects become clear? That’s just weighing on me right now.”
The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage has fallen to its lowest level in four months, welcome news for prospective homebuyers who have been held back by stubbornly high home financing costs. The long-term rate fell to 6.63% from 6.72% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.47%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also fell. The average rate dropped to 5.75% from 5.85% last week. A year ago, it was 5.63%, Freddie Mac said.
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)
| Aug. 1, 2025 | Aug. 8, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $3,347.88 | $3,388.51 | 40.63 | 1.21% |
| Silver | $36.89 | $38.21 | 1.32 | 3.58% |
| Platinum | $1,310.33 | $1,337.56 | 27.23 | 2.08% |
| Palladium | $1,213.79 | $1,130.00 | -83.79 | -6.90% |
| Dow | 43588.58 | 44176.10 | 587.52 | 1.35% |
Previous Year Comparison
| Aug. 9, 2024 | Aug. 8, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $2,430.70 | $3,388.51 | 957.81 | 39.40% |
| Silver | $27.48 | $38.21 | 10.73 | 39.05% |
| Platinum | $923.60 | $1,337.56 | 413.96 | 44.82% |
| Palladium | $909.10 | $1,130.00 | 220.90 | 24.30% |
| Dow | 39497.93 | 44176.10 | 4678.17 | 11.84% |
Here are your Short-Term Support and Resistance Levels for the upcoming week.
| Gold | Silver | |
| Support | 3331/3299/3236 | 37.20/36.05/35.06 |
| Resistance | 3394/3426/3490 | 38.19/39.34/40.33 |
| Platinum | Palladiumn | |
| Support | 1335/1242/1166 | 1163/1114/1056 |
| Resistance | 1411/1505/1581 | 1270/1329/1378 |